High School Sucks

47. Prep

 

This was an uncomfortable read for me.  I really recognized myself in the main character; I wanted her to change in ways I was never confident enough to, and then I just wanted it to be over.  Kind of like high school. And when it was, I felt disappointed because really nothing happens.  Kind of like high school.  Lee lets us in to her four years at boarding school and then it is over, and nothing has really changed for her or for anyone else.

The setting of the boarding school with the dorms, and the mailboxes, and the cafeteria reminded me of my college years, so I had to keep reminding myself that Lee was much younger than I was picturing her.  I can’t imagine living in that world at such a young age, but either way so much of what she went through are things that I remember going through as well, and are obviously things many more people go through than anyone is aware of.

The feeling that you know every odd detail about everyone else, but they know nothing about you.

Being painfully aware of the you inside versus what people see, or what you allow them to know. Even, and especially, your family and closest friends.

Being constantly caught up in thinking socially when you should be studying and learning, and only understanding the consequences of that too late.

The fleeting realization that there are so many people living, and wondering what they are doing. It is all so big, and you really are so small, but it always closes back in on you.

But mostly, wondering if you will ever fit in... anywhere. 

Will I Ever Learn?

Another YA trilogy, really Karen?  Another book that is just a beginning, like some bad joke.  A lot of interesting introductions to characters and places that seem exciting but are never used in an interesting way.  Why are all of these trilogies instead of just long books?  Because really that is what they should be. When the books are all put together it is one story, not three. 

46. The Magician’s Guild

Let's see if you have heard this one before?

A girl, who’s parents died, lives in the slums and hangs out with thieves.  Then one day she makes something happen but she doesn’t know how.  Turns out there are magicians who know exactly what happened, and now one of the most powerful, male ones wants to find her and help her.  So he brings her to the magic school, and she loves it but is torn between staying or returning to her friends.  But she has to stay because her magic is so strong and she needs to be taught. How strong is she, and why is she important?  We don’t know because that part must come in the other books. 

All this book does is introduce us to the world and the characters but not to the intrigue or the development.  My frustration is that I liked this book, it is a good start, but why does it stop?  I hate that instead of enjoying this book I felt cheated by it.  I don’t think I care enough to read the other two books though.

The YA Conundrum

45. Kindred

This book embodies a lot of the issues I have with YA books.  So many times you read them and just wish the author would go there, that they would push it.  Instead they seem to hold back in an attempt to save the audience from true exposure.  Is this because so many parents are ridiculous enough to ban books, so authors air on the side of caution?  The books are good, the plots are good, but ultimately I read them and I feel robbed of the emotional experience that is so amazing about literature.  And it ticks me off.

Here we have a 26 year-old woman living in 1976 California, who literally disappears and reappears in antebellum Maryland.  She saves a boy from drowning, has a gun pulled on her, and is suddenly back home.  This continues for her, as she becomes this boy's guardian angle of sorts.  I can see this being a great book to use in a 6th or 7th grade class.  The time travel will draw them in and the realities of slavery are well described, but in the end there is no emotional payout - doesn't that sound impossible?  Could there be a better set up for a really gut wrenching read?  I know, and that is why I was disappointed.

The character development is just not there.  Granted there is a lot going on and we also like to think that thick books scare off kids so we don't want to go over 300 pages.  But I don't understand Dana or what drives her.  I don't understand why she loves her husband or why she cares for Rufus.  I understand that she needs to save him, but does that mean she needs to like him?  If I knew and cared about her more the whole book would have been so much more effective.  But it just kind of glances the surface of everything instead of really diving in.  Why???

Modern Dickens

44. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

I couldn’t help thinking about Dickens (and I am certainly not the first) as I read this book because I felt that there were so many similarities between the story structure and his works, the least of which was the length, but let’s start there.

At almost 800 pages, I think this book is too long, but at the same time if I had any real complaints about the plot it wasn’t that it needed editing.  In fact, there were many plot lines that I wish had been taken further.  In fact, this would have been a perfect serial.  The characters were all really well developed and had their own interesting stories, and the plot was more of a life story with many small plot climaxes as opposed to one overriding big bang climax.  I really think that if I had read the book a section at a time I may have enjoyed it more.  If I had put the book aside and come back to it later I am sure I would not have forgotten anything about the characters but what I may have benefited from was a rest from the story in a way that would have made it more interesting instead of more of a drudgery.  Basically, I would have loved to read each section in the New Yorker instead of in a huge block of very heavy book (not to mention it was a library book with an expiration date!).

The thing I really liked about the characters was that you never really had a hold on who was good and who was bad, because everyone was a little of both; expect for one truly good guy.  Most importantly, they are developed so you feel like you really know every character and that each one is different from the others and critical to the story in their own way.  Plus, we are talking about a book about magic and all of the characters were down with that.  There wasn’t a lot of, “This is unbelievable,” it just was.  Although the people who say this book is like Harry Potter for adults are kind of crazy.  The magic here is about war and power but it is also very dark.

The over all atmosphere of the book was really well developed as well.  The chapters switch back and forth to describe what is going on with different groups of characters and based on the descriptions of the surroundings you could tell the shifts in their circumstances from good to dire.  I wanted to be in Norrell’s library, to walk on the fairy roads, and maybe even dance a bit in Lost-Hope.

I love Dickens and in many ways I loved this book. I smiled as I turned the last page, but I was glad to see it end.  I can’t believe they haven’t made it into a movie yet.

Feeling Dumb

For the past week I have been in a funk of sorts. A technological funk.  A time wasting funk.  A worthless feeling funk.  Instead of striving to be something I feel like I have decided to give in and be nothing.  So I sit and surf gossip sites, going back again and again to see what is happening in other people’s lives instead of being present in mine.  And the worst part is, I stopped reading and that makes me feel dumb.

While surfing, I stopped by a favorite web site of mine, Out of Print, and found that they were going to be trying out an online book club reading of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and they had a little video of him talking about his life.

He is passionate and happy and excited.  All the things I am not; but I watched, and I smiled, and I listened:

"Things that you love should be things that you do, and things that you do should be things that you love."

"Libraries are people; thousands of people."

"But if you don't know how to read, you don't know how to decide."

And now it is up to me.  I can decide to be nothing, or I can decide to continue to be imperfect.  So I will pick up my book and write about it because I love it and not worry about the fact that the writing isn't prefect because how can it improve if I don't keep trying?

**The part with the cat is the capper!