The Watchmen, a graphic novel.

I absolutely enjoyed this book!!! It took me a lot longer to read than I had first anticipated, but it was well worth the invested hours. The book, in comic format, talks about the lives of several superheroes, all human (or, at the very least, they all start off human), with human flaws.

My favourite character is Dr. Manhattan due to his philosophical insights, particularly on time. He describes time the EXACT same way I have always thought God to exist through time. As the book goes on, Dr. Manhattan's humanly thoughts dissipate as he inhibites his new indestructible body, in turn negatively affecting his relationships with those around him because he can no longer relate. It made me pity him! The emotions I had while reading this book where at its highest when reading Dr. Manhattan's part.

The two people, with whom I have spoken and who have also read the book in its entirety, chose Rorsharch as their favourite character. Rorsharch is honest and unwilling to compromise even until the bitter end. He chooses truth every time. Although somewhat unstable, he fights for the good guy, and kills off the enemy.

If you've read the book, you probably dislike Ozymandias for his self-righteousness. Granted he is the world's smartest man, and his goal of achieving global unity is admirable. Unfortunately, he has a perverted way of achieving that goal, killing many people along the way.

Other notable characters are: The Comedian (the only one to understand what a joke is this world we live in); the Night Owl (using all his nerdy expensive inventions to fight for good); & the Silk Spectre (hot female superhero represent!). Granted, there are other memorable characters (such as Bernard, the psychoanalyst), but I will spare you the details.

Within the Watchmen, a secondary character reads another comic. At first I didn't appreciate this comic-inside-a-comic story of the black freighter. However, in the end, I enjoyed making the parallel connections between the two stories. I think the pirate story resembles the Watchmen story in that the castaway wants to save his village from the pirates just like Adrian Veidt [Ozymandias] wants to save the people in the world from each other. But in the end, it's the villagers who need protection from the castaway in the same way that the people (particularly in New York) need protection from Adrian Veidt. "Who watches the Watchmen?". Furthermore, just as the castaway kills his own, Adrian kills his own too. Ooohhh the irony!

In conclusion, if there is at all conclusion from these random thoughts I've presented, is that you should read this graphic novel!

For Women Only - by Shaunti Feldhahn

I recommend this book to most girls in a relationship. Although this book is mainly aimed at married couples, I personally think non-married girls can get alot of great insight from it as well. The major point of the book is that women need to respect their men. We should respect his decisions and opinions. Even if he is lost while driving somewhere, not wanting to ask for directions, a woman should respect that decision and trust him to find the right way there. She should NEVER bad talk him in public, whether he is around her or not. She should praise him for the good things he does [in public & in private] & only tell him the things that bother her in private. RESPECTING THE MAN IS EQUAL TO A WOMAN FEELING LOVED IN A RELATIONSHIP. She needs to feel loved, he needs to feel respected. Shaunti Feldhahn writes, "crying is often a woman's response to feeling unloved, and anger is often a man's response to feeling disrespected".

Other topics covered in the book: Men feel the need to be the providers; Men need to feel desired & wanted in bed, so don't use sex against him; Men feel insecure & need the wife's support; Men are visual compared to women; Men enjoy romance but don't always know how to go about it; Men care about their woman's appearance, not that they want her to be perfect, but are satisfied in knowing that she cares about her own health & appearance too and presents herself well.

There is an equivalent of this book for men entitled for men only.

For more information, go to www.4-womenonly.com