Media I've Consumed for the Better: 2014 Edition

I've never really written a "best of" thing for any years in particular, but now that I've been ejected from the education system I thought I'd try to crystallize as much of my tastes as I can before society reverts my mind to mush. I rewrote this about three times and used to have about four paragraphs for each item, but I think one of my greatest flaws is spending paragraphs where sentences will suffice. So here's what I thought of some stuff in 2014 (note: not all of this stuff came out in 2014, I just got around to it in that year)

Books 

• 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
  One of the most jarring novels I've ever read. Grasping the reader in one hand like a dilapidated Barbie doll, Bolaño forces you to kiss the contents of his other hand: a slimy Marimo of innate depravity and consummate evil. Though the metaphor may be, he does not do so amateurishly, and he does not mince his words. Weighing in at nearly 900 pages, he hardly concludes his agonizing account of the human condition... but can anyone succinctly tie-up the story that's been told since time began? [beat]
• The Works of Haruki Murakami (with particular attention to 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle)
  I'm sorta cheating here, but it's mainly because I just discovered him this year. His catalog of works largely deals with similar subject matter, with themes like purpose, jazz, and swimming. It's hard to explain just what about him is so intoxicating, especially when the two books I've highlighted are some of his more "fantastic" novels, but if I had to nail it down it would be the way that he portrays the mundane. Chopping cucumbers, washing laundry, walking... and his taste in music is impeccable. Murakami has replaced Borges as My Current Favorite Author, and I figure he'll hoard the position for quite a while.
• Milky Way Railroad/Night on the Galactic Railway by Kenji Miyazawa
  Electronic squirrels, an ominous neon Jesus, and an interstellar train able to visits space birds that can be condensed into delicious cakes... Oh, and it's a really swell story on top of it all. Miyazawa was a big deal in Japan for his children's stories, and it's no wonder with bizarre fantasies like this. Covering the basics of life, death, and Whatever's Next, Miyazawa lays a lot out for kids to think about at such a carefree stage in their life. These are issues that I'm very sensitive towards, and feel everyone should be thoughtful about in how we talk to children. But he does so subtly. What Miyazawa says is hardly frightening, rather hopeful and lighthearted. One doesn't find themselves despairing (unless they think hard about the [actually very mature] ending), but filled with wonder and a burning desire to live (and try those space bird cakes).

Games

• Dark Souls
  Well, I don't actually think Dark Souls was a very good game (I was quite fanatical about it for a time), but I find it worth mentioning. I found it difficult and thought that because I could make such hurtles, that I could steam in frustration for hours before accomplishing something that should not have been so mindlessly difficult.. because of that I thought I was having "fun", because I was part of some elite group that was "in the know" for some ridiculously difficult game that most people did not finish. A hard game does not a good game make. Ghosts 'n Goblins is not fun, but a lot of people who spent money on that quarter-munching arcade game think so because of all the money they shoveled into that greasy machine (or because they are simply sadomasochistic). Dark Souls' difficulty did not justify the horrible amount of time I spent on it. Coming to that realization was the benefit that this game gave me. For me, games are a small respite from this world, and I don't want that area of my life to become a chore or ridiculous badge of honor. While I do recognize some Rad Ideas the game proposes, I'm just not into it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  (p.s. Dark Souls 2 was better, but I didn't really touch that in 2014, so see you next year)

  

  "Let me love you!"

• Captain Toad
  It is a simple, straightforward puzzle game wherein you control a cubic microcosm upon which the adorable Captain can tromp. Three of the four face buttons do the same thing (either cause you to run while in movement, or make an adorable noise when stationary). One button is dedicated to turning your headlamp on or off (largely aesthetic, but I mean that's incredible). The rest of the buttons don't really do anything at all. And that's... really it. You can't jump, you could hardly call your running more than a trot, and each level has the same goal: collect the three optional glittery jewels and grab a star to bring the level to a close.  Solving the puzzles wasn't so much about collecting the various items for me as it was exploring the nooks and crannies of these wonderfully self-contained worlds. Many moments had me go "AWWWW" and "NOOOOOO THAT'S CUTE" and "WAHHHHH". Anyway, check it out if you can. 10/10.

Perfect napping game.

Music

• Earthling by David Bowie
  Why didn't anybody tell me about this album. You guys are messed up and thanks to you I'm about 17 years late to this party... But probably for the better, as this is a great album to listen to once you've graduated college, capturing quite a bit of that fresh societal angst. Shout out to "I'm Afraid of Americans" for summing up the last few months of 2014, and "The Last Thing You Should Do" for making me feel the most insecure I've felt since middle school. I needed this album and it happened across my path just in the nick of time.

• Piano Concerto No. 2 & Paganini Rhapsody by Rachmaninov (performance by Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Gyorgy Lehel & Jenő Jandó)
  These four songs belong together in the After Life, on repeat, while we go about our Celestial Duties, planting trees (see final review) and building the foundations for a new civilization that lives in Perfection under the beautiful New Sun in the glittering Sparkle Snow that blankets the Wonder Earth that's been wrought from the Grimy Maw of the Yucky World We Live On Now.

Television and Film

• True Detective
  Gritty and wonderful. I don't wanna talk too much about it because it's spectacular and worth your time, no matter who you are. Maybe it's a little graphic for you... well that's too bad because you're missin' out. It's the climax of the McConaughaissance, and you will be hard-pressed to find more hard-boiled television than this. But if you know me at all, you'll have heard about this a million times by now. Do yourself a favor and don't let time become a flat circle for your life.
• The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
  An incredible look at the every-day life of animator, director, and producer Hayao Miyazaki, specifically during the last year of work on my [undocumented] Favorite Film of 2013, The Wind Rises. If you're into him, then you have to check it out. If not, probably don't. It's slow, very slow. But to any fan, every second drips with wonderfully gelatinous gold. Miyazaki-san is a wellspring of wisdom, as well as one of the more handsome abysses of cynicism you'll ever see.

• Only Yesterday (Japanese: おもひでぽろぽろ lit. Omohide Poro Poro, "Memories Come Tumbling Down")
  What better way to begin the last semester of your collegiate experience but by watching an animated film that focuses on a woman who wonders if she's living the life she wanted to live when she was a more idealistic youth? I can't think of any better way to start than that. Too bad it was too late in my schooling to drop everything for the simpler lifestyle that I've found my soul to long for in these recent years. My grievances aside, Only Yesterday is a very important animated film, and it's a crime that it was never released stateside. However, you can find subtitled versions of it online, if you look hard enough... Isao Takahata, mentor to aforementioned Hayao Miyazaki, captures the mundane in such a familiar and magical way that I BEG you, reader, to watch the film and see for yourself as your soul is unfolded in front of you. His film captures purity and sincerity in a way I've never seen before.. it's pretty cool.
• The Man Who Planted Trees by Frederic Back
  The most moving film I saw this year was on Youtube for free. You won't find it anywhere else, unless you have access to a French DVD player (and a thorough knowledge of the language), so in a way you luck out being able to see it at all. A short animated film based on a shorter story of the same name, the story follows a young man who becomes fascinated by an ethereal older gentleman who plants trees. What Happens Next Will Astound You. Unfortunately, like some of my other recommendations, this one is very difficult to explain without spoiling, and I count on you, reader, to watch this short film if just for the facts that it's FREE and I'm LINKING IT RIGHT HERE:

Well that about sums up what I can remember... You can comment here, or wherever I shared this thing, if there's anything you have to say. Lemme know if you'd like to hear more opinions about things I like (or didn't like!). It's okay if you don't, this is the internet after all--it's not like we're trying to foster relationships here! Ha!


POST POST SCRIPT: I was a fool and forgot to even mention my one true love MANGA. Because I forgot (and have much more to talk about since I read a loooooot of manga in 2014), I'm only gonna give two lil baby reviews of things that were the most spectacular of 2014 for me.

Touch by Mitsuru Adachi
Touch was one of the best manga I've ever read, and rivaled the last "one of the best manga I've ever read" of the same author, Cross Game. I think the best way to explain it is the way I did in 2013 and 2014 (when I read Cross Game and Touch, respectively):

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is just that: bizarre. Each part (there's 8) travels from Generation to Generation of the Joestar Family while they duke it out against evil in whatever cool, hip, new manifestation their bizarre family super power blood takes form. It's fun action manga, and there was a metric ton of it, and now I don't really know what to do with myself... I'll leave you with some of my favorite caps from the comic. (also: blogger has awful image grouping capacities, so I apologize in advance for the garbage heap style guide following this text)