What a Nasty Pair They Are!

I started reading Jesse Bullington's debut, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, over the weekend and I've had Terry Gilliam on the brain ever since!

Imagine if the Brothers Grimm, as imagined by the visual genius that is Gilliam, were a nefarious duo leaving a bloody path of bodies in their wake as they travel from Germany to the Middle East. This is The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart. As they travel, they are met with strange creatures, demons, and folks as dirty and backhanded as they are, and even worse. And, they are treated to some strange tales along the way (which of course brings to mind the Brother Grimm collecting stories).

It's funny when characters as unlikable as the Grossbarts become the characters that you root for. And it's strange, too. As bad as the pair are, their adventures make for such a train wreck of a read that you really want to see what's going to happen on the next part of their journey -- and so out of necessity of story, you have to hope that they CAN and DO continue, which usually means killing off innocent bystanders while wreaking mayhem and havoc.

You may find yourself hoping that their deeds will redeem the brothers in some way, but they don't. It's kind of one of those stories where you find yourself laughing and then checking to see if anyone saw because you get an instant twinge of guilt.

And, as I said before, Bullington's written word seriously brings to mind the strange worlds Gilliam portrays in his various films. I'm not sure if Bullington is a fan of Gilliam, but since I am, this is a super cool accomplishment in my book.

On another note, I am thinking that I am seriously maladapted for cold weather. I mean, I knew this already, but I am a freaking ice cube these days. Not to mention the tendency to hoard food (came in handy when the blizzard struck a few years back) and the severe temptation to hibernate (or sit in the bathtub continuously refilling with hot water). I am not joking here. To make matters worse, we've had a few power outages lately, in part thanks to the snow and mostly thanks to the poorly maintained tree trimming in our area.

I have to say, when the power was out for over 5 hours the other night (possibly brought on by watching GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra, I'm just saying...) it was nice to have a distraction like Brothers Grossbart on hand to hang on to some semblance of sanity before passing out. Not sure my sound mind has completely returned as of yet, with the job situation playing a big part, but I'm sure it'll be back soon (well, hoping it will be back soon, that is).