So, I need to vent about something…it’s kind of bothering me.
But first we need to go backwards a couple of posts…back to the 13 Reasons Why post. Because something about that show has been bugging me lately. Even though I still think it’s a remarkable rendition of the story, something isn’t sitting right with me. Don’t worry, I’ll get to the “why I didn’t mention this in the original post” in a bit.
Ok…here we go. Why the hell did they change the “Olly, olly, oxen free” part?
I’m sure some of you are making that tilted-head, squinty-eyed, confused expression. But for those of you who actually read the book; that part, that absurd little quote, is, in my opinion, one of the most endearing aspects of the story. But in the movie, they changed it to “FML.” Yep, the coffee shop scenes when either Hannah or Jessica or Alex needs to vent about whatever and they say, “FML,” that used to be “Olly, olly, oxen free.”
I don’t know, personally, “FML” doesn’t seem to have as much character. Maybe they thought it would take too much time to explain “Olly, olly, oxen free,” or some other silly Hollywood reason, so they changed it. But I don’t like it.
Ok, thank you for being so patient. Now, I’ll explain why I felt the need to insert this into this post. It was because, until I read this week’s book, I had forgotten about it.
This book follows along many of the same lines as 13 Reasons Why, it’s about a young man, a senior of a small prep school, who enters his assigned dorm room to find that the previous occupant has left a gift for him, a series of CD’s narrated by the gift giver and explaining how the events of last year led up to…I’m not going to tell you what.
Throughout the entire book, you can tell that the listener, Duncan, knows exactly where this is going, but because he doesn’t want to think about it, or talk about it, the reader stays in the dark almost until the very end. At its heart, it’s about fitting in, and first love, and, of course, tragedies, and how to recover from them. It’s suspenseful, heart-breaking, and ultimately a sweet story.
You can also really see the differences between Duncan’s and Tim’s voices. Tim, the narrator, comes across as quiet, reflective, just calmly telling his story: “I will try to recreate what happened, but you have to understand what led up to it first—that is important too.” Duncan, on the other hand, sounds younger, more naïve, but also more haunted: “He would not let this ruin his senior year. Not after the mistakes he made last year. But when he thought about it, he realized it might be good to have a distraction; it was certainly better than dwelling on the past.”
Basically, this book sucked me in and wouldn’t let me go until I finished it.
Oh, and it made me think of 13 Reasons Why, and “Olly, olly, oxen free,” and start frantically re-watching the show because I didn’t remember them saying that. That’s because they didn’t…and I don’t know why.
Ok, I’ll get off my soap box now.
…But still…
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