Delirium

Delirium

I am so tired of this story. Lauren Oliver has rewritten Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, Titanic, and Twilight. This time the love story is set in a dystopian Portland, Main and it ends how one would expect. *sigh*

The plot to the above stories goes something like this:

1. Take one female character and make something terribly wrong with her. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is a Capulet, West Side Story, Maria is Puerto Rican, Titanic, Rose is rich, and Twlight, Bella is human. This brings us to Lena in Delirium, her flaw is that she has low self esteem.

2. Take one mysterious guy who is kind of a jerk, and make the male and female characters fall in love. Romeo is a violent, but somehow Juliet still finds him sexy. Tony has similar qualities to Romeo, but yet again Maria finds him irresistible. Jack treats Rose like complete crap, but she comes back to him because he is cute. Edward is a flat out asshole to Bella, but that does not stop the two of them from falling in love. This brings us to Alex. On the most important day of Lena's life he creates a disruption so large that it screws up the results of a vital test. 

3. Start changing the girl because the fundamental flaw is so terrible that she unacceptable the way she is. Juliet and Romeo have sex and then get married, thus making Juliet a Montague. Maria and Tony do something similar. These are notable because of the transformational mythos around sex. Men can have as much sex as they want, women, however, can only have sex if it changes them. Jack takes Rose slumming it though the poor part of the boat, because it is totally impossible for Rose to have been written with any sort of empathy. Edward and Bella go though some push me, pull you, I love you, I don't love you, stay away from me, fine lets get married emotional abuse. Alex takes Lena to the Wilds and shows here that life can be totally different, but only with him. 

4. Kill them off. Romeo and Juliet both die. Tony dies thus leaving Maria alone and broken. Jack freezes to death leaving Rose emotionally traumatized. Edward changes Bella into an undead monster. (See what happened? She didn't actually die, she was just completely changed from what she was.) Alex gets shot, leaving Lena emotionally incapable of dealing with her new world. 

We push these stories on young girls and hold up these relationships as some sort of ideal love. That idea is so abhorrent to me. It is not love, it is abuse. I'm going to leave you with the words of Dorthy Parker:

 "This book is not to be tossed lightly aside, but to be hurled with great force."

I am now moving onto A Fine Balance. Crossing my fingers that this is better.

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Going Bovine

Going Bovine

Libba Bray's book is full of darkness. Her main character, Cameron, is dying of Mad Cow Disease.  He also must save the world. What happens is a two week long adventure that includes a sugar addicted angel, a positive thinking cult, a talking garden gnome, a magic trumpet, and one ancient Cadillac. Bray creates an adventure of epic proportions it zooms back and forth between the magical realism of Cameron's adventure and his hospital room. Untimely, the lesson of the book is live each day to its fullest, and Bray's crafting of the story makes that seem not as trite as it seems.

Going Bovine is a fantastic introduction magical realism. Bray makes the genera completely accessible to a teen audience. Literature is all about building blocks. Having a young adult read and enjoy a book like Going Bovine can create a rich love of a work like One Hundred Years of Solitude. Or it could even get slightly more dangerous and that same young adult could go digging for works by Alejo Carpentier. Be that as it may, Bray does unique justice to the genera her characters are fully realized, and feel like high school students. Much of the YA literature that I read falls far short of that. It is mostly an adult projecting what a modern teen would feel. Bray captures the emotional response, the emotional limitations, and the wonderful perspective that a 16 year old has. Also, what best to test his psyche than give him a talking garden gnome as a best friend? Genius.

Walking away, Going Bovine is going to be a book that is around forever. I can see young people (and adults) connecting to Cameron on a very emotional level. The book is funny, tragic, joyful, painful, and one of the best life lessons I have had the joy to read. At the end of the day, I have become a huge Libba Bray fan, and will be adding more of her books to my reading list.

Next up is Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Another YA dystopia, I know I know... I have a thing for the genera.

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Link Round Up

More Intelligent Life did a great write up on why The Great Gatsby has never lost its allure called, The Book of Illusion. Fitzgerald’s novel is timeless. It reflects modern society so well. Please read this if you have not.

Amazon has published the Best Books of October, 2011. I am downloading some that are on this list on they will be in future write ups.

Book Riot discusses the all too important topic of You Don’t Have A Favorite Author. I agree with the article, I do not have a favorite author, but I do have favorite books.

Another great article from Book Riot, In Defence of Darkness. I have talked about this previously in regards to YA Lit, and the article sums it up well.

The Daily Dish asks How Long Can Fantasy Remain Mainstream? So, I guess I must have been knocked unconscious because I didn't really realize fantasy has become mainstream. Sure, The Game of Thrones books are now a TV show. However, I doubt most fantasy is going to reach basic cable or regular network. A show on a premium cable network is not exactly mainstream.

The Daily Beast tossed out a lovely article called, Ode to the Bookstore.

Lastly, Cracked wrote this article that is slightly hyperbolic. I am going to pen a response later on this week. 6 Reasons We're In Another 'Book-Burning' Period in History

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Variant

Variant by Robison Wells

When I initially downloaded this book it was due to the comparisons with Ender's Game. I absoultely loved Card's novel about Ender Wiggan, and I though a fresh perspective on it would be nice. Wells' novel is decent enough take on the M. Night Shyamalan school of twists and turns, but it falls flat. Benson’s character seems a tad one dimensional, and the story hits a few snags and hiccups. All in all, Variant is not a terrible YA book, it is just not one of the best I have read in recent months. It is good enough to toss to an 11 or 12 year old over a long weekend, but I have a feeling, if asked about it six months later, recalling plot points may be a problem.

With that being said, I was reading an author bio of Wells, and it said that his books are aimed towards LDS  youth. I took a step back, Variant did not feel like a specifically religious book.* Also, this is not the first time I have picked up a YA Science Fiction book and had it come from an Mormon author. Upon doing some further research, I came across this article, “Is It Something in the Water?” Why Mormons Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. This somewhat concerns me, because books like Variant may be targeted  towards LDS kids, and placed in a religious section. There is really no need for that. It may suffer the same fate that GLBT teen lit faces being buried in a dusty part of a bookstore, avoided by all but a brave few willing to go into its catacombs. I will have to watch this author, being categorized as a religious book for teens would be very unfair.

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*I am an Atheist, and I have been known to walk away from overtly religious texts. Using religion to further a plot, and as an element of story telling? Fine, C. S. Lewis did it well. Use it to bash me over the head and make me fell guilty? Not so fine. The Elsie Dinsmore series by Martha Finley is the biggest offender. 

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

When Barbara Ehrenreich took up the challenge from her editor to see if she could survive on low income jobs, she did not know where it would take her. Six jobs and three cities later, she wrote this book. It is a small examination of what it is like to be among the working poor in the late 1990s and early 2000s.* It is an eye opening experience. Things like housing, food, and worker treatment are thrust in her face. When Ehrenreich becomes part of the invisible class, she discovers that the existence is difficult, and finding a way out is almost impossible. Books like this are a fantastic primer into studying poverty and income inequality. Ehrenreich's prose makes the book very accessible, and she tackles a difficult topic with great ease.

This is not to say that the book is above criticism. First, Ehrenreich skips a vital part of being someone who is working poor. In each city, she allows herself to rent a car. This is a fantastic luxury. Transportation and transportation costs are one of the largest concerns among low income earners. She glazes over it, and never addresses it. I feel like the book could have been a richer and deeper experience had she had to coordinate a bus route to her job. That is part of the daily experience of many people I know.

Second, I absolutely hated the way Ehrenreich quit her jobs. She simply walked out on each and every one of them. I realize that she was using the experiences as part of a book, but it just struck me as so deeply unprofessional and privileged to toss a job aside like that.  Two weeks notice is something that everyone, no matter what part of the socioeconomic strata, should give. It grated on me so much that I nearly refused to finish the book. The jobs she was working were not something disposable to her coworkers. They did not have the privilege to walk away when they were tired of it. Ehrenreich not acknowledging that is terribly frustrating.

Lastly, there were moments in the book where Ehrenreich's tone felt patronizing. Most of the companies that she sought employment with used pre-employment screening to weed out undesirable candidates. The vast majority of the time this was a personality test. At one point, she screams at another co-worker that "anyone" could pass that test, it was easy. No. Not everyone Barbara. Not women who are functionally illiterate who never graduated from high school.

Circling back around, this book is worth reading. It gives a great starting point for understanding the plight of the working poor in the United States. Yes, there may be some frustrating aspects to it, but the overall theme of the book still rings true. Before I wrap up this write up, I would like to direct my readers to Spent. It is an online game that allows one to experience, in less than ten minutes, what it is like to live as a low income worker. The choices are difficult, the game is rigged, but to some it may be an eye opener. Click the link and let me know how it goes.

Moving on, I need a break, so I am delving back into the world of YA Lit. Variant just came out a few days ago, and it is begging for a write up.


*Part of the reason I noted the dates is due to the fact this book is 11 years old. Ehrenreich wrote and experienced this book during one of our last economic booms. The plight of the working poor is much more difficult today than it was 11 years ago.

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Tinkers

Tinkers

Paul Harding has a problem. Tinkers, his first novel, won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. When he publishes his second novel constant comparisons will be made. Harding will have to wade though that mire, and come out the other end. He has to, because his stories are begging to be told. They tap into something very basic and make it poetic. The novel made regular men jump out of reality, and exist in a place right next to us. George Washington Crosby teaches the reader to live though death and memory. I do not think I can sing the praises of this novel enough. Its use language and imagery is impressive. Coming in at 190 pages, Tinkers is in novella territory. Do not be fooled by its size, the story is expansive and highly detailed. This is a book that made me want to exist within its pages. I wanted to stand where the characters stood, and experience the world as they did. I have a feeling that I will be revisiting Tinkers in the future, the book will stay with me, and it will mean different things to me at different points in my life.

I realize, in the past, I have been critical of fiction. Most of the time it is because most fiction is inaccessible. Books need to be enjoyable, fiction doubly so. Tinkers has the ability to be both accessible, and then not at the same time. The story weaves in and out of time, much like  Slaughterhouse-Five. The fantastic elements of Tinkers come mainly though projection and symbolism. It would be a great book for a the fifth or sixth meeting of a book club, or possibly, a book read over a long weekend.

Next up is Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. This is a book that's been sitting on my shelf for years. It has been recommended more than once and I feel like I need to get it out of the way.

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Link Round Up

NPR did a lovely story on What Borders Left Behind. I am assuming lots of empty spaces and newly unemployed people. However, some are saying that the big box space is being filled. I'm going to watch this closely, because we have an empty Borders location near my apartment.

Why I Read Young Adult Literature, gives some great arguments on why one would want to pick up YA Lit, and read it. Honestly, genera writing in general has out done and paced regular fiction for years. Pick up a book on this list. I am sure it will be a surprise.

The Cursed Dearth of Literary Sports Novels. This article made me laugh. I have not been exposed to too many sports novels. It is my understanding that this genera has not taken off because of the target market. Most sports minded men do not read a lot of fiction. I will go seek some sports books out, just so I can get a feel for them.

Want to swap books with strangers on the internet? Well, click on Paperback Swap. I may try this.

Lastly, some criticism of the Nobel Prize for Literature. I have a list of authors 15 deep that deserve this honor, but none ever receive it.

Oh, I have a Tumblr now. So, you know, follow it.

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