Comic Books In Novel Form or The One Time I Read A Pulitzer Prize Winner And Liked It

Summary (from inside cover flap):

It is New York City in 1939. Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdini-esque escape, has just pulled of his greatest feat to date: smuggling himself outside of Nazi-occupied Prague. He is looking to make big money, fast, so that he can bring his family to freedom. His cousin, Brooklyn's own Sammy Clay, is looking for a collaborator to create the heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit the American dreamscape: the comic book. Out of their fantasies, fears, and dreams, Joe and Sammy weave the legend of that unforgettable champion the Escapist. And inspired by the beautiful and elusive Rosa Saks, a woman who will be linked to both men by powerful ties of desire, love, and shame, the create the otherworldly mistress of the night, Luna Moth. As the shadow of Hitler falls across Europe and the world, the Golden Age of comic books has begun.

My Thoughts - Which do not even pretend to be objective or remotely professional. I loved this book and this is me babbling about it.

So most of my personal reading stays very firmly in genre. If you go through all the books in my room (and there is a truly disturbing number of books in my room; even I at times am forced to acknowledge this) they will all be fantasy, YA, sci-fi or some combination of the three. I have tried mainstream literature and have generally found it not to be for me. I make an exception for the book I am reading right now: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon which I am pleased and slightly surprised to find myself loving wholeheartedly.

I mostly picked it up because I heard it talks about comics in a way that isn't all 'oh comic books, why are the kids degrading their minds with THAT' and it does but it's even better with that because it kind of writes itself like a comic book? I'm not sure how to explain it except that the central characters clearly fall into the role of hero and sidekick and there's the presence of comicesque adventures and plot. But it does this without ever losing it's grip on reality and it acknowledges it and I think it's absolutely wonderful in a way I'm not even sure how to express.

One of the things I wanted to comment on was the way he wrote Sammy Clay. Because the book started off with him but Joe ended up taking over the story and it made me kind of :/ for awhile until I realized about halfway through the novel that he was making Sammy into a sidekick. And it was from that point I really started to get the way the book didn't just write about comics -- and how much did I LOVE the sections where it introduced the comic book characters stories, seriously. The Luna Moth and Escapist chapters are still some of my favourite out of the book; I would read their comics if they actually existed -- it also wrote LIKE a comic. And later when one of Sammy's friends comment about his obsession with sidekicks I just kind of went '!!!! Validated reading, sweet!'

I think I loved Sammy more than I did Joe throughout the book. Not that I disliked him because I liked him alot really and I loved his relationship with Rosa Parks but even when I was reading him it was very clear he was talented and charming in a hero kind of way and well it's sort of like Smallville. Clark is fun to watch but I am so very much more interested in the other, less clearly designated 'main character' figures.

Also Tracy Bacon! Okay, I'm not going to even talk about their relationship, just have this awesome beautiful line from Chabon instead.

They lay there for a few seconds, in the dark, in the future, with Sammy's sore fingertips in Tracy Bacon's mouth, listening to the fabulous clockwork of their hearts and lungs, and loving each other.

I stopped reading so I could write that down in my journal, I want to remember the phrase 'fabulous clockwork of their hearts and lungs' forever because it's gorgeous.

Okay now, further thoughts upon finishing the book!

I love everybody in this book. If any other character did what Joe did I would hate him -- staying away from Sammy, Rosa, and Tommy for 12 years. 12 years! - but I can't because he's Joe and I love him a ridiculous crazy amount.

A man in love at twenty feels more alive than he ever will again - finding himself in posession of this buried treasure, Joe saw more clearly than ever that for the past dozen years or so, he had been, more or less, a dead man. His daily fried egg and pork chop, his collection of false beards and mustaches, the hasty spongebaths by the sink in the closet, those regular, unquestioned features of his recent existence, now seemed the behaviour of a shadow, the impressions left by a strange novel read under the influence of a high fever.

I could just see that so clearly and it made me pause for a second to just bury my face in my hands and be sad. Chabon is so good at hitting you quietly, all the little things have strong emotional impact.

And he had this brilliant theme running throughout the book where he was just basically like 'yes comic books are escapist. So what? That's the POINT of art, to be escapist'.

Better yet, I will quote him:

The shaping of a golem, to him, was a gesture of hope, offered against hope, in a time of desperation. It was the expression of yearning that a few magic words and an artful hand might produce something — one poor, dumb, powerful thing — exempt from the crushing strictures, from the ills, cruelties, and inevitable failures of the greater Creation. It was the voicing of a vain wish, when you got down to it, to escape...

The newspaper articles that Joe had read about the upcoming Senate investigation into comic books always cited "escapism" among the litany of injurious consequences of their reading, and dwelled on the pernicious effect, on young minds, of satisfying the desire to escape. As if there could be any more noble or necessary service in life.

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I recommend this book for: Comic book fans; those interested in books taking a look at the World War II era; artists, writers, and dreamers in general.

Rating: A

A few days ago I decided to avail myself of my library's non-fiction section

Summary (from inside cover flap):

How did Bill Gates go from poster boy for the new economy to global whipping boy? How did the Nike swoosh - the marketing succes of the nineties - become equated with sweatshop labour? Why are some of the most revered brands in the world finding themselves on the wrong end of a bottle of spray paint or the targets of computer hacks and anti-corporate campaigns? What does this all mean to multinational marketing and global interdependance - and what does it tell us about the future of our communities and the world we live in?

Equal parts cultural analysis, journalistic exposé, and mall-rat memoir, from one of the most insightful and respected young commentators in North America today, No Logo explains the bad mood rising against the brands. Without realizing it, multinationals have militarized their opposition. The corporate hunger to homogenize our communities and monopolize public expression is creating a wave of public resistance, highlighted by the guerilla tactics of the angry young. No Logo plots the story of rebellion in the face of our branded world, placing it in clear economic and pop-historical perspective.

In this exhilarating, eye-opening and very human story, Naomi Klein leads us through ecclesiastic Nike stores to sweatshop factories in Indonesia and the Philippines. She brings us into North American malls packed with ready-to-wear lifestyles. She introduces us to a broad range of global activists taking aim at the brand bullies: ad busters who jam corporate billboards, the campaigners who took on Shell Oil in the Niger delta, the forces behind the McLibel trial in London, the computer hackers who have declared war on the systems of any multinationals violating human rights in Asia.

Naomi Klein grew up under the marketing microscope and in the age of jobless recoveries. Now, armed with extensive research and her lucid, candid approach, she encovers the betrayal of the central promises of the new economy. In a compelling combination of first-hand reporting and provocative, humorous, 0ften personal anecdotes, she tracks the reasons behind the rise of anti-corporate activism and explains just why this emerging global movement is a force to be reckoned with.

My Thoughts

"Free speech is meaningless if the commercial cacophony has risen to the point where no one can hear you." -- Thank you Naomi Klein for the quote I am totally going to use to intro my media and democratic values essay. =)

But hey, let's talk stuff that's relevant to everyone, not just girls applying for a Dalton Camp Award. I think I've been asked more questions about this book than almost anything else I've read all year. Possibly attributable to the eyecatching cover but I suspect it has a little more to do with the fact that I would absolutely not stop reading this book. Copy down Math Statistics and Probability notes? I'd rather read No Logo. Listen to my French teacher talk about our latest piece of textbook work? No Logo. Outline my English essay? No Logo.

You may have gathered this was a rather absorbing book.

The inside cover flap offers a better summary than I ever could (sample answer to my math teacher on what I was reading - 'Umm it's about alot of things! Adbusting and labour issues and outsourcing and corporate hiring practices and and and...Well it's mostly about the anti-corporatism movement. Read it!") so I'll move right into the discussion.

No Logo is a really amazing book. It's alot larger than most non-fiction I read and I attribute the fact that I actually finished to how interesting it was. The first section didn't teach me too much that was new - I know ads are getting scarily ubuquitous, the other day I was flipping through Vibe magazine and had to go through twenty pages of ads before seeing anything remotely resembling an article - but I'd never heard about the ways people were combatting it. And sure I've heard the whole 'Walmart is evil' refrain but no one's ever explained to me why as clearly and convincingly as Naomi Klein did. I've heard about sweatshop labour but I've never connected that to the Free Economic Zones I learned about in history or thought that rising unemployment issues in Canada/US are partially attributable to outsourcing by large corporations. This book was just such a huge eyeopener to me. All of these issues and ideas that I was vaguely familiar with were laid out in a clear and accessible format with oodles of convincing examples. I'm peddling it to everyone I know and I've already picked up a copy of another book by her, Fences and Windows: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate. No Logo gets my full and unreserved recommendation.

I recommend this book for: Anyone interested in the anti-corporatism movement, those in the market for interesting non-fiction, those interested in ideas of social justice, political science or economics students.

Rating: A+

I really wanted to hug these boys

Summary (from back of book):

Sam and Charlie used to be best friends. But then Sam cut Charlie out of his life - no explanation, no discussion, nothing.

Fast-forward one year, and both Sam's and Charlie's lives are spiraling out of control. Sam has a secret he's finding harder and harder to hide, and Charlie is dealing with an increasingly absent dad and a dealer whose threats are anything but empty. Now, during the sticky Florida summer before their senior year, the ex-best friends are thrown together once again when they have no one else to turn to.

My Thoughts (Spoiler avoidant so carry on)

-makes flaily hand motions- Charlie and Sam! They are awesome!

I had to keep closing the book because Sam kept being stupid and underestimating the people who love him (to be fair, he had me convinced which is why I kept retreating because I kept being afraid with him). I think Sam gave me trouble because I identified too strongly with how he was feeling so I spent alot of time going 'eep! I am going to cover my eyes until I can convince myself to peek through my fingers to see what happens next'.

Charlie though, Charlie is my boy. I mean, okay, he was stupid sometimes too but not in the same way Sam was. He was stupid in terms of making bad decisions, most of them before the novel began. Sam was stupid because he was afraid and didn't trust people as much as he should. I have some experience with both but I could sympathize more with Charlie's situation. I know exactly how it feels to screw up somewhere and then keep on screwing up till it feels like your life is an utter mess and there really isn't too much you can do to fix anything (which could be used to describe Sam's situation too. Huh. I think maybe I'm bad at this whole identifying differences thing).

Oh whatever, I love Charlie best because he was so supremely awesome at the end of the novel and he deserved cookies and balloons for his behaviour. I want a friend like Charlie.

Saints of Augustine has two beautifully convincing narrators and a strong message about being brave enough to confront your problems honestly. It's a completely absorbing read which I'd feel comfortable recommending to anyone 13 and above. Maybe younger if you've got a mature kid. Two thumbs up P.E. Ryan, I'll be keeping an eye out for your books in the future.

I recommend this book for: People who like novels with a strong friendship component to them (comme moi!), books with not just one but two well developed male character voices, anyone who likes books that are straight up awesome.

Rating: B+

A Little Battle Royale, A Little Epic, ALOT of Intense

Summary (from inside cover flap):

In the ruins of a place known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before - and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

My Thoughts (Spoiler avoidant so carry on)

I seem to be on some sort of good book reading streak lately. First A Companion to Wolves and now this? The Lord of Bookworms smiles upon me.

I first got interested in reading The Hunger Games because I saw number of book blogs I follow lauding it and it got nominated for the Cybils. (And won! I just checked) I'd like to say all the praise is wholly deserved. The Hunger Games is interesting the way most dystopic novels are interesting; it makes the reader to stop and think and really think about an issue they normally wouldn't it. In this case it's about staying human in the middle of war.

A few weeks back I read The No-Nonsense Guide to Human Rights by Olivia Ball and Paul Gready and I've been framing alot of what I read in human rights ideas since. In The Hunger Games the rights of the characters are being completely violated. Katniss is being forced to ask herself how far she will go to survive and consequently, so is the reader. She manages to stay human inspite of her circumstances but there are others who don't (Cado would be a prime example). The horror is amped up by the fact that she's sixteen. I was thinking right away, she's younger than me! Kids shouldn't have to make those kind of choices!

But she does. And they do. The Hunger Games is fiction and a little bit of a political satire but there are children caught up in wars all around the world. Off the top of my head I can think of one: the civil war raging across Sri Lanka right now. There's a quarter million civilians caught in the crossfire and none of them chose to be there. Just like Katniss didn't.

The Hunger Games works on a number of levels. The plot is totally absorbing - I started last night, kept reading until I went to bed, woke up this morning and kept going until I was done. Didn't even pause for breakfast, I only went down to eat when my brother told me my mom bought us Tim Hortons muffins after I started this review. The characters are great - I'm going to remember Katniss for a long while and I could certainly sympathize with Peeta (and Haymitch! He and Katniss are so much more alike than she is ever going to admit. I'd love to know how he managed to win the Hunger Games in his time). And as I touched on earlier, it explores one very compelling moral quandary. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

If you liked this try: Epic by Conor Kostick, Battle Royale by by Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi, Warchild by Karin Lowachee, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

I recommend this book for: Dystopia fans, action movie buffs, and as ever, those inclined to read good books.

Rating: A

Maybe they'll get rid of that marriage law for me

Summary (from inside cover flap):

In a harsh Northern land, the towns of men huddle close around the walled keeps of their lords. Those keeps, in turn, look to the wolfhealls for their safety, when the trolls and their wyverns come down from the icy mountains to prey on manflesh.

The warriors of the wolfheall are bonded to giant fighting wolves. Once there were many wolfhealls, for once men were winning the land from their enemies. Now the trolls are fewer and come less often, and the lords are reluctant to send their young men to the wolfheall.

Isolfr is a young nobleman who is called to the pack. At his father's holding of Nithogsfjoll, there are a few men of the right age for bonding, and his father is hostile to the wolfheall. He refuses to send his sons, but Isolfr is deeply drawn to the wolves. When the konigenwolf, Vigdis, comes to visit with her brother Hrolleif, the young man chooses to disobey his father and answer her summons.

Life in the pack is very different from Isolfr's gentle upbringing among wolfless men. Discipline is quick and harsh, and his days are filled with work and weapons training. But the wolfheall's ways, though strange, give Isolfr a deep sense of belonging. Here he will find love and acceptance, courage and true honour.

And then, in the winter of Isolfr's bonding to Viradechtis, the trolls come down from the north in far greater numbers than before, and the holding's complaisance gives way to terror in the dark.

My Thoughts (no spoilers so go on ahead)

Oh my God, I don`t even know where to start. This book was just so deeply awesome.

Hmm. Maybe I ought to start with the problems then. Or rather problem because there was really just the one. And that was the names. D= There were so many of them! And they were near impossible to pronounce! There’s a list of Dramatis Personae at the front and I found cause to refer to it often.

When I got about halfway through the book I thought `Hmm. You know for a book so lacking in significant female characters this is surprisingly feminist`. There’s a theme - subtheme? subtext? whatever - running through about how important matriarch/peacekeepers/caretaker figures are to which I mostly nodded and agreed with wholeheartedly. Because seriously, just take a look at all the stuff your mom does one day, it's kind of awe-inspiring. And then I got farther into the book and the pro-feminist theme got much stronger and my mind starting whirring off into essay land (this is what taking HL English and History does to you. You can't just read a book, you have to analyze it. Thanks alot IB).

I don't really want to ramble on to how they handle the whole being bonded-to-an-animal cliche other than to say it's done wonderfully. I have never read Anne McCaffrey which appears to be the popular comparison on Amazon but I remain convinced that Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear have collectively pwned her.

But my favourite thing about the novel would have to be the relationships. I have a favourite type of story. I would call them love stories except whenever I say something along those lines people respond with things like 'Oh you like things like Twilight then!' and I feel the urge to shudder away in disgust. See, by love stories I mean precisely that. Stories full of love. Familial love, romantic love, friendly love. I don't really care, as long as I get my heapings of characters being affectionate at each other. This book provides that in spades. I spent a lot of time saying inane things like `Sokkolfr! You are so lovely! I know you're not allowed to marry but perhaps we could work something out? I am sure we could come to some sort of arrangement. Or elope! I am fine with your wolf coming along! This bed is big enough for three!`

...I never said reading good books left me sane.

I recommend this book for: Anne McCaffrey fans, people who like books that use the bonded animal trope, people who like reading, that one homophobic kid at the library who I am going to give it to because I think it will be hilarious and am not actually a nice person.

Rating: A

Prostitution is Revolution

Summary (from back cover):

Between domination and subservience exists a realm of sensual fantasy unlike any ever dreamed. Marja was born a child of the fens, young, beautiful, and free. Her days were spent searching for bog iron for her poor family and communing with the spirits of the land who both guarded and guided her. But her contentment is broken when a man comes to her small village and buys her from her father. The handsome Lexander is well-known as a procurer for the pleasure house of Vidaris, where Marja is to be schooled in the arts of seduction and carnal delight. Though frightened, Marja grows to love her master and discovers her nature as a true submissive. But when Lexander grants Marja her freedom, she discovers that not all are so kind. Like the warriors who care nothing for those they conquer-and show no mercy to those who oppose them. Now, Marja must accompany a fallen noblewoman on a perilous journey to save the land that''s so precious to them. And Marja will have to use all of her strength, skills, and cunning to survive in the war that is about to engulf them all.

My Thoughts

Susan Wright is the poor man's Jacqueline Carey. =) I don't mean it as an insult to her; it would be difficult for anyone to match the Kushiel novels. I was struck right away by the huge amount of similarities though - girl trained as a prostitute who has a rapport with the gods (or olfs, the supernatural equivalent in Serve and Submit), who is the submissive in a dom/sub relationship and who has lots and lots of sex. The main character, Marja, had this out of this world quality which I found appealing. Alot like Remedios the Beauty from One Hundred Years of Solitude (only character I really liked in that book).

Kirkus Reviews mentiones it is 'well constructed' and I think I agree. Studying for my English exam appears to have left me in a fever to analyze the world; I stopped about three-quarters in to be impressed with how well structured the plot was.

If I was going to pick one weakness in the novel: I'd have to say it's Marja's relationship with Lexander. I know she tried to explain but I honestly didn't understand why she loves him. I mean from what I can see she fell for him because he was domineering? It was strange and a little disappointing for the main romantic relationship in the novel. I was more convinced of her affection for the couple she lived with for awhile: Gudren and Alga (if you're thinking threesome than surprise! You're right =D It's kind of fun actually, mentally ticking off all the fandom sexy tropes she goes through in the book. There are alot).

I totally giggled at her olfs who are voyeuristic little Brownie-like creatures. Mostly because, well, voyeuristic little Brownie-like creatures! How would you not find that concept amusing?

I recommend this book for: Jacqueline Carey fans, people who like Nordic mythology, anyone in the mood for a softcore erotica/fantasy hybrid (hey I don't judge, I read it first).

Rating: C