Summer Book Bingeing and The Implications of Technology...

#IbelieveinRussianhackers

So, let me start by sharing that I discovered something REALLY weird. I know that few people read my stupid summer reading blog, but I happened to look at the number of views of two of my posts, and they were pretty high! My initial thought was, "Wow, people might actually care about books." Then, I clicked on the blog feature that allows you to see where people are reading, and Russia lit up like a traffic light on the map. Then, I thought about what the difference was between these highly viewed posts and two more recent posts... upon reflection, I remembered that I shared these highly viewed posts on Facebook.

Yeah, so as I pondered all the potential violations that might occur in terms of my privacy because Russians have access to my data, I decided to pick up Feed by M.T. Anderson, which I had been meaning to read for a while. The premise is that people in the future all have internet feeds implanted in them, allowing 24-7 connection, and in the midst of this, a teen boy (Titus) and his friends are "hacked" while partying on the moon when someone touches them, causing them to black out. (Is this akin to having someone spike your drink?) Anyway, they end up in the hospital until their feeds can be restored...

At this time, Titus meets Violet, a poor girl with a college professor for a dad, who begins to question their reliance on the feed. At one point, the teens go to the mall and look at crazy items to try to throw off the algorithm that recommends products to them. I felt chills as I thought of every time I post a picture of my toddler on Facebook, only later to see Pampers advertisements on my stream.

I was a bit bothered by the mindless profanity in the book, but then again, the author was trying to make a point about how words fell by the wayside when people relied on the feed. Instead of understanding complex adjectives or metaphor, people used phrases like "big tired" and "null" to describe exhaustion and (something being) lame, respectively. Everything was "stuff," and if people wanted to share experiences, they could simply share a kind of replay of what was going on in their mind, eliminating the need to try to convey experience. (Like this chilling Black Mirror episode from season 1!)

While certainly this book was more in line with dystopian stories like Ready Player One  (my husband tells me that the movie, which was great, was very different from the book), with corporations using technology to control and profit from the masses, it also reminded me of another book I read this summer.

 #16thingsIthoughtweretrue by Janet Gurtler, which was more of a teen romance/drama, prominently featured the impact of technology.

The premise of this story is that Morgan's mom falls gravely ill and finally reveals the name of her father, whom she has never met. If this wasn't weird enough, it also turns out that Morgan is the star of a viral video, which her friend posted to Youtube, so people all stare and talk smack about her. Ironically, because she doesn't have any friends, she turns to twitter to connect with people, trying to gain followers...with a goal of 5,000 by the end of the summer.

Along the way there is a budding romance, a road trip, and new friends made, all on Morgan's quest to meet her father and show him what he missed out on by not being part of her life (#idontthinkshethoughtthatthrough). There are many parts of this novel that are incredibly predictable, the characters lack depth, and the lessons seemed obvious, but I enjoyed the way the author showed the complexity of teen relationships with technology, especially how there is pressure to put on a perfect face to the world via social media--and how even those looking to escape from it can't seem to disconnect.

Granted, while a Pew Research study shows that most teens today use instagram and snapchat more than twitter, I think the trouble Morgan has disconnecting and putting down her phone is something many teens can relate to. I also think it shows an important lesson, which I know teens are TOLD all the time, but which doesn't always sink in, about how just one stupid post to the internet can haunt them. I almost wished the novel ended with an epilogue about Morgan applying to college and being rejected because there is permanent footage of her dancing around in underwear (to find out the even more embarrassing details, you have to read the book).

So here is a question both of these books left me with: can we unplug? Is there a path forward without the logistical issues and pressures that access to social media and digital connection? I'd like to know your thoughts!

Happy reading!

Summer Book Bingeing: Books that Build on an Old Story

How to do it right...

It can be really tempting to build off an old story. In fact, according to authors like Thomas C. Foster (of How to Read Literature Like a Professor fame), most stories repeat the same basic premises anyway, so why not try a new take on an old story?

Well, a few books I've read so far this summer seem to provide a primer on what to do, and what not to do, when recycling.

The Overdrive (the app that allows many people with library card to downloard e-books and audiobooks) Big Library Read book is Cowboy Pride by Lacy Williams, which is a confessed re-imagining of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice set in the Wyoming frontier. I loves me a good book club, so I checked out the e-book, adjusted the night setting in the new Libby app, and read this book in about two hours...so in about 1/8 the time it would take to fly through the original. So, to start on a positive, it was short.

The problem with remaking a classic is that you will never compete with the original. Those old enough to remember when Gus Van Sant remade Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Psycho will remember how widely the film was trashed, not because it was inherently bad, but because it just wasn't as good as the widely lauded original. To quote "In Defense of Gus Van Sant's Pyscho Remake", "A remake that tries something new with the material, like David Cronenberg’s The Fly or John Carpenter’s The Thing, can be thought of as innovative. A remake that simple recreates what we’ve already seen? Well, that sounds downright nuts."

To be fair, this author doesn't copy and paste the book, and the preface clearly states that she could never do justice to the prose of the original, but that is precisely what made this book disappointing: the prose just wasn't that great. While it was interesting to think about what Elizabeth Bennett would be like in the old West (hint: still bookish and smart), the plot and conceits don't change all that substantially. For example, instead of holding a ball at his grand estate, as in the original, Bingley hosts a barn-raising. Instead of being a rich estate owner, Darcy is a rich rancher. Gossip and money still interfere with romance, and pride and prejudice abound. So, without any beautiful prose or snappy "magical" dialogue, the story just feels like a cheap imitation.

The author rightly points out that her version allows the reader to see more of the "behind the scenes" romance between Jane and Bingley and includes "cool cowboy things" like a train robbery, but I'd argue these elements are mere window-dressing that don't make up for cliche passages like "She'd never expected Nathan. Hadn't known a love so pure and true existed. She tilted her chin up, inviting a kiss, which he eagerly supplied." Reading this makes me feel a bit queasy, and not in the charming romantic way. It reminds me of a game my friends and I would play when we were teenagers, pulling one of those cheap romances off the shelves of a store, opening to a random page, and reading passionately to passers-by whatever drivel poured off the page. (Only this book is completely PG.)

While it is interesting to see things from the perspectives of Liza (Elizabeth), Janie (Jane), Bingley, and Darcy, the shifts in narration make the book more strange than helpful. While the narration allows a view into the character motivations that the original novel, with a limited third person narrator, did not provide, I'd argue this limited narration through Elizabeth's POV helped build the tension, making the reader think more deeply about the issues than if the characters merely confessed their feelings, as they do in this book. The realizations felt like they came too easily; perhaps this was because I KNEW what would happen, as the story faithfully followed the plot of the original. But then, that is the danger inherent in a remake. Unless there is a unique beauty or original twist, remaking a classic is just nuts.

With that said, I also read a fantastic take on an old story in Madeline Miller's new book Circe. I'd previously read Miller's Song of Achilles, which looked at the Trojan War of The Illiad through the POV of Patroclus, dear friend of Achilles. Circe likewise takes a relatively minor character from Greek myth and provides her with a story, including Odysseus and details from The Odyssey as almost an aside.

While The Odyssey focuses singularly on the man, the hero, Circe focuses on the woman (well, witch/demi-goddess, if you want to get technical). Instead of being a minor character in his story, Circe is imbued with a full life, complete with childhood, complex motivation (hints: daddy issues, mommy issues....really, a lot of issues with being part of a messed up divine family), and pride. The character and story are beautifully written, For example, the first paragraph of chapter one ironically states:

When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist. They called me nymph, assuming I would be like my mother and aunts and thousand cousins. Least of the lesser goddesses, our powers were so modest they could scarcely ensure our eternities. We spoke to fish and nurtured flowers, coaxed drops from the clouds or salt from the waves. That word, nymph, paced out the length and breadth of our futures. In our language, it means not just goddess, but bride.

I LOVE the subtle way Miller reviews the expectations for her female character, showing the subordination inherent in her position, but previewing that her ACTIONS are what will set her apart from the others and ensure her eternity--albeit as part of a man's story. The lyrical prose, imbued with both a peace and a bitterness from the start, captures the sense of the character as she is at the time of this telling (some unknown future), with the wisdom of experience that allows her to look a bit more objectively at events, but with all the "human" bitterness remaining.

I don't want to give away too much of the story, but those who have read The Odyssey will have some sense of the events that happen mid-book, when Odysseus lands on Circe's island. However, where the story goes from there is completely original and turns the myth of the hero on its face, showing a more realistic and human Odysseus...and making the Greek gods all the more wonderfully flawed.

Although it is set in the traditions of ancient Greece, this is truly a book for today, as Circe finds the power within her (both literally and figuratively) to defy the odds and do the impossible. I can't recommend this beautiful and interesting book enough.

So what went right? The author did NOT attempt a recreation. Instead, she took a minor character and told--not just Odysseus's story--but a larger, original myth from her perspective. In the process, Miller artfully weaves in the stories of other famous Greek heroes, gods, and monsters, and this keeps the narrative lively both before and after Odysseus's appearance. The combination of old-story, new perspective, and enchanting writing made this a winner.

Summer Book Bingeing Part I: Weird books

Averaging a book a day isn't normal...and neither are these books!

If books were chocolate cake, I'd weigh about 1000 pounds by now, and with all my reading, I've been a bit lax about posting. But given all I've read, I think I'm going to separate my posts by type...and see what arises!

I guess I've been really inspired by following another blogger Pernille Ripp. She is a passionate reader who not only has great advice for teachers, but also great book recommendations based on the reading she and her students do. Given many of the books are YA, which tend to be a bit shorter than other books, I guess it is no surprise that at this point I've read about 30 books this summer...with more to come!

I think the book that most surprised me so far this summer was Grasshopper Jungle, which was an award-winning book mentioned on Ripp's blog as something the boys in her class loved. It was WEIRD. Now, keep in mind, I didn't bother reading the cover, and I should have, because the second word in the front cover blurb is "bizarre". I was expecting a basic coming of age story...not something science fictionish, but then again, I loved the relationships between the main characters, the honest look at love and sex, and, of course, the banter. The dialogue was so honest, crisp, and funny that I could entirely imagine this as a movie (though because of the "raunchy" element, I'm not sure it would ever pass the PG-13 test for most teen movies...and the special effects would have to be off the charts). [BTW--I Googled it, and apparently they ARE making a movie out of this!]

I also think that this is a book not just for boys, but for anyone who appreciates quirky things, like second-hand stores and adventures to climb up on a roof to retrieve stolen shoes and skateboards...and quirkier things, like genetically altered killer mutants. I don't want to spoil the ending, but I can honestly say I didn't quite expect it--or maybe I didn't want to. While it got a bit cliche toward the end (I could imagine Will Smith and Jeff Goldbloom in Independence Day as the boys bantered and rode together in their car), I appreciated the authenticity of the narrator, who was lovably immature and just the right amount of confused to strike me as a typical--and anything but typical--teenage boy.

Speaking of teen boy narrators, I really liked Challenger Deep by award-winning author Neal Shusterman. I had no idea what to expect from this book, but I know of the author, so when this audiobook came up as available on my library app, I downloaded first and asked questions later.

I'll admit that it was a bit hard to follow at first, but that was kind of the point, as the narrator isn't fully aware of what is going on. However, through flashbacks, we quickly catch up to what led to Caden's present day problems. In a sense, the story is told in two settings: the real word and the world of a ship at sea, headed for the Marianas Trench and the deepest point on earth. The story vacillates between these settings, and I loved the way everything begins to come together and make sense for the reader as it begins to make sense for the narrator. I don't want to spoil what happens, but you can probably guess that something isn't mentally quite right for the narrator, and so this book provides a powerful approximation of mental illness. As Laurie Halse Anderson (author of Speak) said, this book is "a brilliant journey across the dark sea of the mind."

Earlier in the year I read another of Shusterman's books Bruiser, which is told through the POV of

Tennyson and Bronte, twins in a family that is falling apart because of their parents' infidelity, and the POV of Brewster, whom the student body call Bruiser, on account of his enormity. The teens seem to be worlds apart, with the twins living a middle class existence with professor parents, while Bruiser lives in a run-down house with his drunk uncle and accident-prone little brother after his mother's death. However, when they make an effort to get to know each other, the teens are surprised by what they find (I won't spoil the twist). Like Challenger Deep, this book also looked at big questions through a somewhat fantastical lens, questions such as "To what extent will be put ourselves through pain for those we love?" Although the end was a bit disappointing, I loved the premise, and how all of the characters had to explore questions of love, selfishness, and selflessness. I also liked that the surreal elements of the book didn't feel far-fetched, making the premise less of a distraction and more of a means to explore these very human questions and issues that we deal with daily in our friendships, families, and romantic relationships.

I also read several obviously fantasy/sci-fi books. One is a new classic, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, which is a futuristic take on the classic Cinderalla story that several former students have read and loved. The premise that Cinder is a cyborg who is treated as less than human by her stepmother, stepsister (the other stepsister is nice), and society raises questions about how we treat "others" today: what makes us view people as less-than-human? What about race and class really matters? This is exacerbated when she meets the teen idol prince of the realm (Earth is now made of big territories, and this one seems to be formed out of southeast Asia), who hears of Cinder's skill as a mechanic and enlists her help with an andriod. Because the prince doesn't realize Cinder is a cyborg, we get to indulge in these questions of who has value--and wonder if the prince will cast her aside if he realizes what she really is.

Also adding to the value of this book is the plague that is ravaging
the world. The plague is obviously reminiscent of the Bubonic plague of the middle ages, with its deadly, skin-color-changing lesions, mysterious origins, and hard-to-predict path through the population. As cyborgs are used as guinea-pigs to look for a cure, it becomes clear that this book is looking not at the future, but at the present, and what extent we will go to if such a pandemic were to arise today. (And there always seems to be such a threat...whether we are talking ebola in Africa or swine flu.) While the addition of the mind-controlling moon people (called Lunars) seems weird at first, the author brings together the many threads of this story into a unique take on the Cinderella story that asks a lot of important questions...but doesn't provide as many answers (as you will have to read parts 2-4 of the Lunar Chronicles to find out what happens next). I liked the empowered Cinderella, and I'm a sucker for a new take on an old story, especially when it avoids plagiarism and uses the old story to provide enough predictability to add original plot, but the audiobook didn't have as much character as I would have liked. Perhaps the reader was afraid of being too melodramatic, but I think that in a story like this, a little drama is to be expected!

Reimagining is also present in one of the best YA books of 2018 (so far) Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. Written in the tradition of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which imagines what the classic love story of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy would have looked like if zombies were involved, this book imagines what would have happened had the dead risen during the Civil War. However this is a holy original story and utilizes an alternate timeline, very much like the book and Amazon series The Man in the High Castle, what would have happened had the Axis powers won World War II.

The story is told from the perspective of Jane, who is it a combat school studying to be a lady's attendant, a personal bodyguard for rich white women against the undead. As a woman of color, Jane was taken from her family as a teenager (which is the law) to train to fight the undead; while the North still won the war, the reconstruction never seemed to have taken hold in the South in this reality, so people of color (Native Americans included) are treated as second-class citizens...if not as slaves in practice (just not in name).

Fortunately for Jane (kind of....there's definite sarcasm in this, and in Jane's voice, which I love), she ends up at the best combat school for ladies, which should ensure that she receives a well-paying post should her family farm have fallen to the undead in her absence. And Jane is at the top of her class...in more ways than one. You see, her mother was the wife of a Southern Major, and so Jane is not only raised as part of a plantation family, but also as a "bastard" of some black man. (Which almost gets her killed many times.) While this means that she is treated better than much of the help on the farm--who are treated very well, given the standards of the day--she is not treated well by society. In fact, her mother hides the fact that Jane is her child from society and her husband, who was away at the time of her birth. Jane uses these terrible prejudices to her advantage throughout the story, being able to trick those who would stand in her way by feigning ignorance and illiteracy, and often this helps her during her trials.

I loved this story, which I don't want to spoil, which is part mystery, part action-adventure, part historical-fiction, and which is incredibly powerful today. I loved the inclusion of her enemy-turned friend Katherine, who could pass as white if people didn't know better, as a direct way to explore the ridiculousness of the prejudices that guide post-Civil war society. And this book isn't just about race--it's also, beneath the surface, very much about class, and how the rich make the rules (if they are white, of course). Behind the very engaging story of Jane's quest to help her friend find out what happened to his sister are the simmering tensions among the rich of Baltimore and their "help", the scientists and those who would abuse their innovations, and those who believe in equality vs. those who believe in "survival" (which seems to be a euphemism for racists, like the white power movement). And all of this is just the beginning!

There are so many twists and turns in this story that I hesitate to provide too much plot, but I loved that each time I thought I knew where the story would go next, I found a new surprise (that in retrospect completely made sense with prior information). The ending, which I won't give away, definitely leaves room for other books in the series, and from what I can see on Goodreads, there appear to be more books in the works! If you like The Walking Dead and/or historical fiction or following the #blacklivesmatter movement, you will love this book. (And if you don't like those things, you might still like following the adventures of this Marvel-esque superhero woman who kicks booty in so many ways!)

 

I have so many more books to share, some of which could fall under this heading, but I will save those for a special fantasy post :)

 

Happy Reading!

Good Fortune

Beautifully written and captivating!

That would be my quick assessment of Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. This was a book on our school summer reading list years ago, and the cover and flap seemed intriguing enough for me to give it a chance. Plus, I really wanted to read a book from a different country!

Let me begin by saying that I loved the way the author foreshadowed what was to come throughout the beginning, dropping hints about Eliza's journey to follow her love, which made me wait patiently during the seemingly irrelevant details of her adopted mother's courtship with Jacob Todd. And while I say irrelevant, I surely don't mean boring. The details never seem overly done (for all those students out there who couldn't stand The Scarlet Letter), but provide enough clarity to envision these characters while still making them your own.

Set in Chile in the early 1800s, the novel has an air of historical fiction, but it is first and foremost a "present" story, critiquing the social conventions that seem to be of the past, but which upon reflection I see as very much alive today. (I didn't realize how many immigrants came to Chile from all over the world!) And if you don't care for historical fiction, then you will be happy to know that I think this tale is first and foremost an adventure story, with a little romance sprinkled in along the way (though not that sappy Nicholas Sparks stuff). If I had to give a similar movie, I'd say it reminded me a bit of The Princess Bride mixed with Django Unchained (but a lot less gory) and Shakespeare in Love. Or maybe the original Pirates of the Caribbean (but without the pirate curse--sorry, no magic in this one!).

I don't really know a lot about sailing (or steamships), but the author really painted a picture of the conditions on board these vessels. I also had mainly read about the Yukon gold rush, so I hadn't read a lot about the California rush. It was interesting to hear about the conditions of the people who went to California (either voluntarily or not so voluntarily), and I loved the way the heroine became involved in the many aspects of life in California. I was also interested in how the author tackled prostitution from many angles (no pun intended), showing those who embraced the life voluntarily and those who were victims of sexual slavery. (Disclaimer: Although there is a LOT of discussion of prostitution and sex, none of it was so graphic that I wouldn't share the book with my mother.)

Isabel Allende

I loved the way the author kept me in suspense...as soon as I thought I was ready for the story to continue, she would jump backward in time and give us a character's back story. Rather than being infuriated at the hold-up, I found myself riveted, as the complexity this created not only gave me a deeper appreciation of the character's actions, but it also tied back to previous events in such a way that the "threads" that seemed so loose then pulled tighter, revealing an incredibly well-woven story.

I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that I was both disappointed and pleased. I'm not sure I would have been satisfied with any other ending, but I will say I was left hungry for more. Consequently, I think I will be looking for other books by this author in the future.

As I looked to see if there was a movie of this (since that has been the trend in the books I've selected so far), I found this great student-created trailer for the book. I can tell it was using the same software a few intrepid students of mine used for their Modern Macbeth trailer this year, and I think the creators of this trailer did a great job.

Happy reading!