A Book And A Movie

This past weekend, I both finished a book I've been reading and watched a new movie. The book was "Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants" by Robert Sullivan and the movie was I am Legend.

"Rats" was about the history and present state of Rattus norvegicus in New York City. Integrating science, history, and travel, this was a very interesting book that I could still put down for a few hours between chapters. This is important to me in a book since I either cannot put it down ("Battle Royale" in less than a day) or get bored and wander off before the third page (C.S. Lewis' "Abolition of Men").

The movie, I am Legend, is about a virus that gives humans rabies-like symptoms. The main character is the only man left on Manhattan without the virus due to his natural immunity.

So I'm sitting in the theatre watching the colonies of half-humans living in dark and coming out to eat only after the sun goes down thinking about rats. Who wouldn't draw a comparison? There was even a "Rat King" amoung the rage-oholics. (Alright, so Sullivan says Rat Kings are myths, but so is a rabies-like virus that makes you shed all your hair and act like one of the infected people in 28 Days Later.) Unfortunately for the movie, I did not like the ending and it lacked the historical depth of the book.

So, I recommend the book if you're into that sort of thing and recommend the movie if you're bored.