Mini Review: The Bell Jar

Written By Sylvia Plath
Original Publication Date: 1963

Rating: 4 Stars

Let me see if I can phrase this correctly.  I found The Bell Jar to be both an easy read and a difficult one.  Language-wise, the book was easy to read, it flowed; Plath has this way of giving you an entire picture with just a simple few words.  However, where I found it difficult to read was the bluntness and the truthfulness of the decent into a world inundated with dark thoughts and depression.  To some extent, especially when we're in our late teens, early twenties, I think this is something that everyone struggles with.  Trying to find your place in the world is a hard, scary, thing to do and some of us handle it better than others.  Plath encapsulated this in her vaguely autobiographical novel.  She was really writing about the "Quarter-Life Crisis" 30 or 40 years before the phrase came into vogue, and she did so brilliantly and truthfully.

The Heretic's Daughter

Written By Kathleen Kent
Original Publication Date: 2008

Rating: 2 Stars

Book Notes:

Well, it's been a while.  This book took me quite a while to get through.  I just started a new job and I needed to be focused on that; besides, my new boss has been changing my schedule every 24 hours, so it's been hard to find much time to read.  I think it's finally settling down, so the reviews should come quicker again.  I will not let this job affect my reading.

Page 151

Finally the story's picking up!  Maybe I'll actually finish this sometime in the near future!

Review:

As a modern-day Pagan, with roots in modern Wicca, I was incredibly excited to finally find this title used, for cheap (hey, I was unemployed for a long time).  I had been wanting to read it for quite some time, as I have read a fuckload about the Salem Witch Trials, and love to visit the place.  To read a fictional account of real people who were part of the fiasco sounded awesome enough.  Add to that that Kathleen Kent is directly related to Martha Carrier?  Sounded like a gold mine to me.

Unfortunately, I found myself incredibly disappointed.  I guess I was hoping that because Kent is related to these people that she would have had a journal or something that would have added something more to these events that swept the colonies.  Maybe my hopes were simply too high.

I found the first 151 pages fairly boring, they were the day to day life of Sarah Carrier, daughter of Martha Carrier - one of the women hanged for witchcraft.  They were boring, but they did a decent job of exploring the conflicted relationship that every woman/girl has with her mother.  We love her, we hate her, we resent her, we need her, we blame her, we rely on her, we take her for granted.  By the end of the novel, I had actually decided that this relationship building part of the novel was more interesting than the Witch Trails themselves.

I thought it would get more interesting and pick up, once the Witch Trails came to Sarah's front door.  Damn, was I wrong.  I felt very little emotion come up from the page when Sarah's mother was arrested.  I felt very little when her brothers were arrested.  I felt very little when Sarah was arrested.  It plodded.  Somehow the drama of the Witch Trails was made boring.  Seriously, how is that even possible?  I've read completely non-fiction accounts of the events and they were less boring than this fictionalized account.

Some of the absolute best writing came from the last 50 pages or so, when Sarah is describing the prison scene and how the women either came together or pulled away to survive.  That, was the only part of the novel that I didn't label as boring.  The human emotion was truly raw and awesome during this time.

Paper Books versus eBooks

Well, since my Kindle Battery up and died on me in the middle of reading Man in the Empty Suit, I figure right now is a great time to do this particular post.  Damn you, battery life, damn you!

Image source: http://reviews.cnet.com/kindle-paperwhite/

I resisted the ebook revolution for a long time.  In fact my Kindle only turned a month old on the 25th of January.  I wasn't sure how I felt about losing my wall decor and how I felt about losing the charm of my physical books.  On top of that after the George Orwell Debacle of 2009, I was (and honestly still am) well and truly afraid of what would happen to all my precious books if companies went out of business (what did happen to folks who had the Borders ereader?).  So, not sure I was ever going to get over my want versus fear of ebooks, I basically decided to wait to see what happened.  What finally convinced me was that sometime during the past year, my father got a Kindle.  Getting to play with one from time to time and reading a  handful of books on it, decided me: I must have one.  Besides, Kindle just came out with a wonderful upgrade to their basic Kindle, the Kindle Paperwhite: an e-ink kindle with an adjustable light.  Did I mention that I think this should have happened earlier?  It was another feature I was waiting for before getting an ereader of my very own.

Now I have a New Toy.  No, my Kindle still doesn't actually have a name, because I'm still calling it New Toy.  I love it, I do.  However, I have to say, if my folks thought buying me an ereader was going to slow my buying of physical books, they were sorely mistaken.  My boyfriend knows me better than that, telling me that he was under no such illusion.  Now I just have two very large TBR shelves (physical and digital) that are constantly expanding.

Pros of Reading ebooks

• You only need to bring one, fairly small, book shaped item with you on vacation to have access to your entire library.
• There are many many many websites for finding free books, onehundredfreebooks being my particular favorite.  Sign up for their newsletter, and they send 15 free book options to your email account every evening.
• Receiving books from publishers is instantaneous.  I don't need to wait for books to come in the mail from NetGalley - I just need to push a button and a few minutes later the book shows up on my Kindle.  Still need to be approved by the publisher, of course, but it cuts out a hella wait.
• My Kindle Paperwhite makes it easier to read in bed when my boyfriend's still sleeping, because the light glows.  It's not very bright or harsh.
• On the easier-to-read-front, those 1000 page books that we all love so much are now the same size as all the other books.  My wrists hurt much less after a couple of books on the Kindle.
• Your favorite books don't fall apart. I go through copies of Clan of the Cave Bear every couple of years, I just read it a lot, and it'd be nice to have a copy that I could keep in pristine condition as well as one I can read anywhere, anytime.

Pros of Reading Paper Books

• There is no chance of your book disappearing on you into the magical digital cloud in the sky.  (Yes, I understand how these devices work so well, don't I?)
• You're more likely to be supporting small businesses.  I love my used bookstores, I could live in one and be totally happy.  Hm.  Retirement plans, mayhaps!
• House Decoration.  There's nothing quite like walking into a library/study/bedroom that is lined with books.  The first time I walked into my boyfriend's biological mother's house I was transported by the books that lined just about every wall of her living room and kitchen.  My bedroom is lined with shelves, even using a closet as extra shelving, and I love the homey feel that the books invoke.  My dream house has a Beauty and the Beast style library.  I want big comfy chairs and ladders and every inch of every wall lined with books.  Oh!  And a hidden passage behind one shelf, of course.
• The smell of books.  I find that the smell of a novel lends itself to the escapism that I want so badly from my books.  Especially the smell of used books.  When you crack that book for the first time and you smell perfume from an elderly woman or the dank smell of coffee that was spilled on the first page or even the crisp smell of a new book, the books becomes a portal not only to where the words take you, but to the life of the person who last read the book.
• Loaning is so much easier with paper novels.  Has anyone else realized how fucking annoying it is that I can only lend certain books from my Kindle and only for 14 days?  Goddamnit, I bought the book, I should be able to let my friends and family read it.  Plus, I should be able to read my parents' books without having to switch Amazon accounts.  It's bullshit.  I have been introduced to some of my favorite authors from books lent to me from friends and family.  It's part of the culture that books bring.  The ereaders cut off some of the social aspect that I love about books.  Fuck you publishers, let me loan out whichever ebook I want to who I want for however long I want.
• You never have to charge a paper book.

In conclusion: A book is a book is a book is a book is a story.  No matter how you read it, as long as you're reading.  Find a way to read, the way that is best for you.  I don't care if you read on scrolls, paperbacks, hardcovers, ebooks, just read.

Now, Goddamn you, Kindle.

Charge Faster!

Identical

Written By Ellen Hopkins
Original Publication Date: 2008

Rating: One and a Half Stars

Review:

I finished this book last night and I'm still not entirely certain what I want to say about it or how I want to rate it.  I wanted to sleep on it, mull it over - I'm still at a loss.  So, I'm just going to start writing and hope that whatever spills out gives me an appropriate star rating.

What the back of the book says: "Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple.  As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family - on the surface.  But behind the facade, each sister has her own dark secret."

First of all, during the entire book, I couldn't remember the girls' names, so I was calling them Twin 1 and Twin 2.  I'm probably just going to continue that into the review, because that'll let me have more of a stream of consciousness, try to get this all out.  

Twin 1 is being raped by Daddy, and Twin 2 wants to be raped by Daddy.  I almost had to stop reading on page 25.  

"...And if Daddy would just stand

still for me, I'd happily tap his core."

I threw the book against the wall at that point and walked away.  I was pissed, and honestly, I still am.  That was a clue that perhaps this book was written for the shock value, and not entirely for tackling the issue.  I know it's a hard issue to tackle, but I've read books with similar subject matters and none of them have left me with a book on the other side of the room and twitching.  Shock value is not synonymous with tackling difficult issues.  One of the reviews I read on Goodreads, that I can't find at the moment - if you find it, let me know and I'll link to it - called this book "trauma porn."  At this point I am inclined to agree.

Thank Gods after that point the I want to fuck Daddy, erotic language was largely dropped, because that's what made it seem like Hopkins was just trying to get a rise out of us.  There were definitely other scenes that I felt were written for their shock, rather than their value, but nothing that got such a disgusted reaction from me.

Twin 1 is the "weak" twin, who can't say no, is the lead in the school play (Grease).  Twin 2 is the "strong" twin, getting stoned daily, sleeping around with her dealers.  Both twins have eating disorders of various types, and deal with their pain in less-than-healthy ways.  Mom is always away, she's running for Congress, only returning for photo-ops.  Daddy's a judge and he's also an alcoholic, control freak.

It was almost a 600 page book, and I had the big twist figured out in the first 150 or so.  I think if I hadn't figured it out, I would have stopped reading.  It made some of the shock value stuff seem less out-and-out shock value.  I'd explain why, but if you still plan to read this, or are reading it and haven't figured out the big twist, I won't give it away for you.

I think that Ellen Hopkins is an incredibly talented author, I actually enjoyed the prose - and I am not a poetry person, not even a little.  What soured this book for me is that I didn't think she was actually tackling the big issue, I think she was writing to get a rise.  And she got one, but not in a good way.

I think that I'd be interested to read Crank, because that was based on her daughter, so it will probably be less shock-value and more actual value.

Extras

Written By Scott Westerfeld
Original Publication Date: 2007

Rating: 4 Stars

Book Notes:

Seems that I don't write a lot of page-specific notes when I'm at my boyfriend's place (especially when I'm not on my Kindle).  My youngest sister bought me this book because I'd read her copies of the first three novels in the series, Uglies, Pretties, and Specials but she had lost this one!  I read those before I had this blog - see their review on my Goodreads Account.

I was very amused by the dedication of this novel: "To everyone who wrote to me to reveal the secret definition of the word 'trilogy'."

Review:

This takes place some years after Tally takes down society, and vows to protect the Earth.  

Aya is 15 in what is today's Japan.  Her parents won't allow her to start having surge until she is 16.  Aya thinks they wish that it were still the Prettytime.  Her rank in the city is far too low for her to afford any, anyway.  Her feed is read by almost nobody, so her facerank is too low to receive merits for the writing in it.  All she wants is to get famous and stop being a self-named-ugly.  She found a story to kick in a secret clique that despises fame and wants to stay off of the city feeds. Her story about a secret clique turns into a story about city-killing missiles and the end of the world.  Someone doesn't want her story to get out and Aya is forced to go on the run with the famous Tally Youngblood.

Basically, this is a city run by how many people follow your Twitter and Facebook feeds! Eek!  I don't know about you, but that sounds terrifying. We self-rank ourselves enough because of these twisted social networks, we don't need economy based on it as well!

It seems a common review of this series that people liked it less and less as the novels went on.  Somehow I found myself in the minority and enjoying these novels more and more.  They were all four star books, but were I  to rank them, I liked Extras more than Specials more than Pretties more than Uglies.  I think that for me it was the widening world more than anything else that did it for me.  While the stories were all fairly similar, it made me think of what each new division of the culture was doing in the previous book.  What were the Specials up to in Pretties and Uglies?  What were the Crims up to in Uglies?  What have Tally and friends been doing since Specials?  Yes, there's a formula, and yes, I can see how the books were predictable.  But you know what?  I thought they were fun to read.  I found the issues they addressed to be important enough, that the predictability was forgivable.  I found the writing flowed well enough that I simply didn't have time to be bored.

The Last Myth: What the Rise of Apocalyptic Thinking Tells Us About America

Written By Mathew Barrett Gross and Mel Gilles
Original Publication Date: 2011

Rating: 2 Out of Five Stars

Book Notes:

Page 23

We really did delude ourselves, as a culture, in the 90s that we were living in a never-ending Golden Age.

Page 67
The apocalypse is new to our era; the nature of Endings that were in other cultures were also Beginnings.  The cycle of living was important.  It's our understanding of history as linear and unique, rather than cyclical and mythologically repetitive that created the idea of the END.

Review:

First of all, I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway, back in ...March?  I kept trying to pick it up, I swear!  For some reason it just sat on my bedside table, totally ignored.  I'd put it on my bedside table, ignore it, put it away, rinse and repeat.

Turns out my instincts were right.  It's not really worth reading.  The first couple of chapters are very interesting.  Those chapters are a conversation of when apocalyptic thinking first existed.  In very early history, there was no history as we understand it today.  Everything was cyclical and a re-creation of a myth. Nothing ever truly ended, because it was always reborn as a beginning.  It was when humanity started thinking of history as linear, as we do today, that apocalyptic thinking was even possible.  When history was cyclical, apocalypse as was understand it today wasn't possible, but when history became a straight (random) line, we wanted to know when that line would end.

For many hundreds of years, the apocalypse-thought-process didn't even focus so much on the end, but on what came after.  Isrealites lost their homes over and over and over again, but because they believed that after the judgement day came, they'd have everything - more than they could ever have imagined - this is why they never lost hope.  The apocalyptic thought was actually a positive!

From those two points, we can very clearly see how the advent of science created an apocalyptic thought process that focuses more on the end, than on what comes after the end.

Alright, that was interesting - it really was.  I enjoyed the first 100 pages or so.  Then all of a sudden, it got repetitive.  The sentence structures felt like they'd simply been transplanted from earlier in the book.  They couldn't even bother to write new sentences!?  Copy Pasta is not how to make an interesting book.  Maybe if they'd simply focused on the history, or hell, even ended the book after those 100 pages, it would have gotten a higher rating.  But once it hit the 100 page mark, I felt like I was re-reading what had already been said.

Truth be told, I skimmed the last 50 pages or so.

Ariel

Written By Stephen Boyett
Original Publication Date: 1983

Rating: 2.5 Stars Out of 5

Book Notes:

Page 84

"Fred"?  He named his new sword "Fred"?

Page 134

"You moved around a lot in your sleep.  You kept ...rubbing yourself.  You know, on your ... crotch.  It bothered [her]."

HEADFUCKINGDESK

Page 143

He categorizes his sex dreams as "bad dreams."  Whatnow?

Page 224

Ugh.  A Twin Towers: Two Towers reference.  I remember when the movie came out I had to explain to numerous people that no, they didn't need to change the name of the movie out of respect for those who were lost on 9/11, because the Twin Towers didn't exist when Tolkien wrote The Two Towers.  Pet Peeve of DOOOOM.

Page 272

"A bit Tolkien-ish, isn't it?  Washington going to war with New York."

If by Tolkien-ish, we mean that there's a necromancer, like there is in The Hobbit?  Then sure it's Tolkien-ish.  Otherwise, no, not really.  This author seems to like to compare himself to Tolkien.  It is inaccurate and cocky as hell.

Review:

I'd recommend this book for mature-ish 15/16 year old boys.  It's gory and sex-filled.  However, it reads better if you think of Pete as a 16 year old boy rather than a 20 year old.  It doesn't quite qualify as Young Adult, but it comes close.  Pete is a good Young Adult hero, what doesn't make it Young Adult is the length, sex and gore.  The writing style even puts it at borderline Young Adult.

I'm pretty sure I just read a 400 page metaphor for a boy going through puberty; either that or it's a 400 page metaphor for a boy losing his virginity.  Five or six years is a really long time to go through the worst of puberty.  The lights, cars, and guns stopping working is even called The Change! 

The fact that guns stopped working was pretty damned arbitrary, by the way.

When The Change happened, Pete was 14 or 15, just a normal nerdy teenage boy.  He went to his debate event and even when the lights went out, at 4:30, they opened a window shade and kept going.  He walked his girlfriend home in the dark, and when her folks weren't home, they walked to his place with the plan to go back the next day.  They'd spend opposite nights in each others' houses until one set of parents made it home.  Surprisingly enough, that plan didn't work, and that night Pete headed out on his own.

Two years after The Change, Pete was bathing in a clean stream musing on how quickly the waters cleaned up after technology stopped working.  When he looked up, there was a unicorn standing amongst his clothing.  When he got out of the stream, Pete could tell that the creature had a broken leg, and it spoke!  After the Change, mythological creatures started cropping up everywhere.  Unicorns, however, only show themselves and allow them to befriend the purest, the virgins.  Pete names it Ariel.

The sex thing in this novel is so weird.  Pete is so afraid of his own sexuality.  He is so afraid of his sex dreams and when he masturbates in his sleep he really bugs out.  I know he's afraid of losing Ariel, but dear Gods, he's supposed to be 20 or so.  I know the world is different, but it's not so different that men and boys stop physically maturing.  Even though it may have been weird having no one to talk him through puberty, he clearly knows what sex is from the way he describes his dreams.  But he's so goddamned afraid of it and every time someone comes onto him or admits to have had sex, he gets nasty.

Five or six years after The Change is when the bulk of the novel takes place.  (In the novel it says six years, but on the blurb, it says five.  Consistency fail.)  Ariel and Pete have been wandering from town to town, when they meet men on the road who will do anything to posses Ariel, especially her horn.  These men are led by an evil necromancer, who lives in New York City.  They go on a quest, to defeat him, walk to New York where Ariel is taken.  Making a few friends along the way, Pete is able to free Ariel, but only after it is too late for his innocence.

Oh, he wants to kill us with his powerful magics?  We should walk right into his lair!  HERP DERP!

Also, what is it with these characters crying all the fucking time?  After The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I thought I was done with the sobbing main male characters for a while.  I picked up a post apocalyptic book, for Godssake.  But no, Pete cries at everything.  Come on!  Every time he's over tired, scared, confused, angry, etc. etc. etc.  He's been living in this world for 5 or six years, by himself.  Why hasn't he grown up a little more?  At the end of the book Pete finally grows up.  There's an event that forces Ariel to turn away from him.  He couldn't stay a child forever.  Thank Gods.

Two and a half stars because, regardless of how weird and unsettling and arbitrary the sex, gore, and world was, it was actually a fun read.