The Write Thing

"That the main lesson of literature is courage…"  Truth.

8.13 Woes of the True Policeman

 

For the past few weeks I have watched the neighbors across the street pack up the many belongings from their home.  After 40 years, it is time to move somewhere smaller;  somewhere safer, with only one level.  She is 86 and he is 89.  I knew that they needed to move, especially after he broke his arm last year falling down the stairs backwards, but it breaks my heart to see them dismantle the life they lived in that house.  I wish I knew them better and longer.  It is heart wrenching on one hand and on the other so clearly the right thing to do, but watching them decide what to take and what to leave at this stage in their loves feels sad.

Some people don’t get the chance to make these types of decisions.  Roberto Bolano died at age 50, he had been ill but was still very young.  Much of his popularity as an author came after his death and three books have been published posthumously, most recently Woes.  It was marketed as an addition to 2666, and it is, but it also felt like I wasn’t meant to read it.  It feels like a character study that he did for himself in order to better understand the characters he wrote about there.  It feels like a sketchbook that was set aside and not meant to be a part of anything.  If you haven’t read 2666, this story makes no sense (not that he is known for writing linear stories), if you have read 2666 you will eat this up with a spoon, as I did.  You will relish each new detail, you will want more.  But kind of like too much ice cream, maybe not such a great idea.  I love Bolano and I love his work, but I want to read what he wanted me to read and I am starting to feel a bit dirty as each new piece comes out.

Strike Two

“Nothing went exactly right. And yet it was perfect.” Truth.

7.13 Tempest

I hate when I read two stinkers in a row, it puts me off for a bit.  Plus, when both have been recommended by friends I have to also worry about gracefully navigating our next meeting.  If only I could go back in time and make a different choice…

Speaking of, Tempest is a YA about a boy who can jump back in time and while there the things he does do not change the present.  Then one day odd men show up and shot his girlfriend.  From there he goes back in time to change her future and figures out a big subplot about his abilities and where he comes from.  It is actually a pretty good and original premise, but so much time is devoted to explaining how the time shifts work (and I won’t claim that this is done very well either) that you never come to care about the characters doing it.  There are some interesting parts sprinkled through but I never felt like anyone truly cared about anyone else and there were so many lies being told I wasn’t sure what to believe in the end.

Of course, it will eventually be part of a trilogy and so it leaves off without a satisfying end.  I am pretty sure I won’t be reading on and rather sure it won’t effect my future in any way.

Fridgid B*$#h

“Don’t ever get old. With each year that passes, the old Viking idea of jumping off a cliff to one’s death looks better and better.” Hopefully not a Truth.

6.13 The Ice Princess

Blergh.  Bad book. 

The heroine was annoying, acting one minute like a competent girl and the next like a total idiot; stealthy breaking into houses to uncover clues while also worrying about weigh watchers points and what underwear will keep her tummy in line.  Or when she sits on her mittens so as not to get a UTI from a park bench (Seriously, maybe I should have stopped reading here.) Did I mention she is 35.  Plus, I am not even sure she is supposed to be the main character.  Was it supposed to be the police officer?  Because he seemed like he was new to this whole solving crime thing even though, based on his age, he should have been at this for at least ten years.  But you see, they knew one another as kids then moved away, and now they are in love.  Wait, is this a romance or a mystery, or is there a new hybrid? Romstery perhaps?

Spoiler Warning!

Anyway, the murder case was over done with too many plot lines meandering and big clues suddenly being revealed, and then it doesn’t even finish.  I mean, I think the guy did it, not his mom right?  I am pretty sure it isn’t good to have your reader come away not sure.  Also, I figured out the other big plot twist halfway through because I used to watch Days of Our Lives.

Other highlights include:

All men are bad.

All women are victims.

The none victim females are not complete until they find a man and once they do they stop doing anything interesting and just start cooking.

Plus, the writer is Swedish so lots of street names and meaningless car travel though the snow.

And shoveling.  Lots of shoveling.

Balls. Blergh. Bad Book.

Please Don’t Ignore Her

“The trick is remembering that change is as easy as you make it.” Truth.

5.13 Please Ignore Vera Dietz

This was a pretty gut-wrenching read.  It just rang so true, and so sad, for me.  It made the faces of many past students flash before my eyes, with the constant reminder that for some kids life will never be fair.  Some kids are failed by the system and by the people around them, by the people who know better.

As the story opens Vera is at the funeral of her best friend Charlie, or ex-best friend as the case may be.  We being at the end, as the rest of the story tells us, through flash backs, about their friendship, how it fell apart, and what really happened to Charlie. Meanwhile it is also a story about two kids, acting very much like teenagers – which I am sure has conservative parents in an absolute fit as the book won a Printz  Honor Award – and just trying to keep their heads down and make it through.  So many kids now a days do that.  It seems like they are literally holding their breath until the something better comes along, but there are also so many more ways to get in trouble than there used to be, and so many more people too bothered to intervene when they see wrongs being committed.  At the core, I think that is what this book is about:  Idly standing by, and how it has become really hard to push back against that new expectation.  I think both kids and adults would learn a lot about acting responsibly from this book.

The end is a bit tidy for me, but the core is very messy and very real.  And in many ways, very scary.

A Case of Fanfiction

“I’ve a rule about one-eyed yellow idols – and, indeed, idols of other precious hues with any number of eyes, arms, heads, or arses.  Simply put: hands off!” Truth.

4.13 Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D’Urbervilles

I am so glad I had this book to read while I suffered through the plague.  I could barely read, much less make sense of particular details of a plot, so the fact that this is a collection of familiar tales was perfect.  This is a love letter to Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, in which the Holmes role is played out by the dastardly Moriarty, and the role of Dr. Watson is filled by hired hit-man Colonel Moran.  All told from Moran’s POV, we revisit the adventures of Holmes from the side of the bad guy, all the way until the final fall, and it turns out to be just as much fun as you would expect.

Essentially, this is fanfiction.  In fact, Titan Books had published an entire series of what amounts to Holmes fanfic - made much easier by the fact Doyle is long dead and his works are part of the public domain.

There has been a lot of debate about fanficion in the publishing world lately as 50 Shades of Grey has become a certified hit (shudder).  EL James, the “author” has made millions off of her books that were originally published online as a Twilight fanfic. (They call it Pull to Publish as names are changed and all references to the original removed.)  My general opinion about fanfic is that it is great, as long as it remains exactly what it is.  Someone taking the characters and ideas of someone else and expanding on them, while giving all credit due to original author, actor, creator, etc.  I think it is great that so many people find a path to writing through inspiration from television, movies, or other books. I say use the characters, use their names, and be thankful for their origin, but please, don’t write it that way, then cut and paste in new names and say it is original in the effort to make a profit, it isn’t original and the authors (and now publishers) know it. 

A Royal with Cheese is still a Quarter Pounder, and Anastasia Steele is still Bella Swan, so just own it, and honor it, and if doing so means you pay royalties to someone else then write the check and be thankful.