Lev Grossman
Picking up immediately after The Magicians, Grossman finally breaks new ground. Quentin and his friends are fully aware "adult magicians" in their travels to Fillory (aka Narnia) and therefore we are able to see this portion of the story as a bit farcical. When going on a quest, one does not make plans for what to quest for since in a magical world, the fact that you are on a quest will lead to the revelation of the purpose of the quest along the way. Farce. But then Grossman moves the characters back and forth into the "real world" and provides back story for how this entire situation gets started. That is, back story for how "the gods" are coming to shut down magic. I love how the characters in "real world" are struggling with the meaning of magic and the responsibility of power, the nature of existentialism, and the magical class system that they were raised in. Appropriate amounts of real thinking balance the silliness, and true seeking for meaning underlies the entire story. Here is to hoping that the final installment will evolve enough to push the thinking and meaning to new limits, making this a meaningful trilogy.
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Monday, June 30, 2014
Saturday, June 21, 2014
The Magicians
Lev Grossman
Quentin is a brilliant but bored student in the New York public school system, preparing to be accepted into the Ivy League university of his choice and move on to a successful life. And then he is recruited to attend a highly prestigious school of magic where during his interview, he gets the "thrown into the frying pan" revelation that magic is real. It is everything he believed and hoped for while ready Fillory and Further. It is here that Grossman relies on a distinct popular culture knowledge (or at least a target audience knowledge) of C.S. Lewis Narnia series. Fillory is Narnia. A magical world that kids secretly get pulled into with talking animals, they become kings/queens but they must return home and future cousins/siblings go back in later volumes. Grossman provides enough hints about this magical world that insiders will know fully what the context is. And the same way with his school of magic Brakebills. He provides enough similarities to Hogwarts that readers can jump immediately and quickly into the world. This is potentially a massively beneficial strategy, allowing the story to cover lots of ground without spending the time developing the world fully. Just let the readers past experience with similar worlds fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, Grossman does not manage that balance well. At least 4 times throughout, I found myself saying "Ok, I get it" only to have to read through several more chapters of unnecessary detail and nuance. Only in the final third does he put everything together and does the story become a page turner. Only then, does the weaving of these worlds become its own unique thing, taking us to a place where neither Lewis nor Rowling were willing to go. And based on this, it means that I will probably need to read the sequel, which if the trend holds, will be a wholly unique offering of this mash-up sort of magical world.
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Quentin is a brilliant but bored student in the New York public school system, preparing to be accepted into the Ivy League university of his choice and move on to a successful life. And then he is recruited to attend a highly prestigious school of magic where during his interview, he gets the "thrown into the frying pan" revelation that magic is real. It is everything he believed and hoped for while ready Fillory and Further. It is here that Grossman relies on a distinct popular culture knowledge (or at least a target audience knowledge) of C.S. Lewis Narnia series. Fillory is Narnia. A magical world that kids secretly get pulled into with talking animals, they become kings/queens but they must return home and future cousins/siblings go back in later volumes. Grossman provides enough hints about this magical world that insiders will know fully what the context is. And the same way with his school of magic Brakebills. He provides enough similarities to Hogwarts that readers can jump immediately and quickly into the world. This is potentially a massively beneficial strategy, allowing the story to cover lots of ground without spending the time developing the world fully. Just let the readers past experience with similar worlds fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, Grossman does not manage that balance well. At least 4 times throughout, I found myself saying "Ok, I get it" only to have to read through several more chapters of unnecessary detail and nuance. Only in the final third does he put everything together and does the story become a page turner. Only then, does the weaving of these worlds become its own unique thing, taking us to a place where neither Lewis nor Rowling were willing to go. And based on this, it means that I will probably need to read the sequel, which if the trend holds, will be a wholly unique offering of this mash-up sort of magical world.
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Wide Sargasso Sea
Jean Rhys
I have been interested lately in the difference between narrative and character. It seems that my reading enjoyment comes from narrative (see The City and the City as an example). By narrative, I mean the telling of a story where things happen. The intellectual thought process of following cause and effect, or of developing culture or history, creating a world system however strange it may be is fascinating. Character, on the other hand, seems to me to be about being and knowing. This book is definitely a character book. However, what is particularly intriguing here is that the character, the being and knowing that is revealed, is not a character. Or perhaps more clearly, I think the character portrayed is actually Jamaica, the place. Set in British colony of Jamaica in the late 1800's after the abolishment of slavery, I was not engaged with the protagonist, but in what life was like in Jamaica at that time. The racial tension between mixed white/black people, poor whites and free blacks integrated with the reality of living day-to-day. Only after the fact did I put together the connection to the title (the Sargasso Sea) being this massive gyre in the Atlantic. And in hindsight, an oceanic gyre is the exactly correct description of the character of Jamaica as portrayed here. Brilliant.
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note: this book is part of a Reading Lolita in Tehran project, which you can read more about here.
I have been interested lately in the difference between narrative and character. It seems that my reading enjoyment comes from narrative (see The City and the City as an example). By narrative, I mean the telling of a story where things happen. The intellectual thought process of following cause and effect, or of developing culture or history, creating a world system however strange it may be is fascinating. Character, on the other hand, seems to me to be about being and knowing. This book is definitely a character book. However, what is particularly intriguing here is that the character, the being and knowing that is revealed, is not a character. Or perhaps more clearly, I think the character portrayed is actually Jamaica, the place. Set in British colony of Jamaica in the late 1800's after the abolishment of slavery, I was not engaged with the protagonist, but in what life was like in Jamaica at that time. The racial tension between mixed white/black people, poor whites and free blacks integrated with the reality of living day-to-day. Only after the fact did I put together the connection to the title (the Sargasso Sea) being this massive gyre in the Atlantic. And in hindsight, an oceanic gyre is the exactly correct description of the character of Jamaica as portrayed here. Brilliant.
Read
note: this book is part of a Reading Lolita in Tehran project, which you can read more about here.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
The Brothers K
David James Duncan
This is the story of the Chance family in the late 60's. Patriarch Hugh Chance is a minor league pitcher and even after a career ending injury, his identity is as a ball player. This identity is so strong that it is also the identity of his family (4 boys and twin girls). The family is also wrapped in the identity of the Seventh Day Adventist mother and her history. Narrated by Kincaid Chance (4th son), the story actually provides insight into the family life from the point of view of each of the brothers at various times. While the narrative ebbs and flows, sometimes engaging and other times dragging, the development of complex battle fronts within the family was always engaging. There is no typical antagonist here, but a series of familial interactions that are deep and interwoven in their motivations to allow the role of antagonist to be passed around the family and the community. In this way, the characterization was likely more in line with how actual families function. I absolutely loved the baseball portions of the book (the first third) and pushed through the middle to enjoy the last third as well.
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This is the story of the Chance family in the late 60's. Patriarch Hugh Chance is a minor league pitcher and even after a career ending injury, his identity is as a ball player. This identity is so strong that it is also the identity of his family (4 boys and twin girls). The family is also wrapped in the identity of the Seventh Day Adventist mother and her history. Narrated by Kincaid Chance (4th son), the story actually provides insight into the family life from the point of view of each of the brothers at various times. While the narrative ebbs and flows, sometimes engaging and other times dragging, the development of complex battle fronts within the family was always engaging. There is no typical antagonist here, but a series of familial interactions that are deep and interwoven in their motivations to allow the role of antagonist to be passed around the family and the community. In this way, the characterization was likely more in line with how actual families function. I absolutely loved the baseball portions of the book (the first third) and pushed through the middle to enjoy the last third as well.
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Monday, June 2, 2014
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Walter M Miller Jr.
Written at the height of the cold war (1959), Miller takes this opportunity to look at a possible future resulting from the likely nuclear holocaust decisions that he saw in his political leaders toying with. But instead of looking at the world dealing with the aftermath of a radiation event, we are treated to a historical detective story. Miller takes us on a sweeping journey through three, 500 year intervals in the three novellas that make up this book. Set in the Southwest (former) United States in an Abbey dedicated to the historical scientist/engineer Leibowitz, the monks are charged with preservation of ancient documents. They are some of the few literate people in a largely hunter/gather society. It is fascinating now, at the start of the 21st century, to think about what life will be like at the start of the 31st century. And to look back to the 11th century for clues about how dramatically life can change. Miller also asks us to think about the correlation between civilization and religion, the relationship between levels of technological advancement and secularism or religious influence. He asks us to evaluate our (American) belief in progress. The themes are intriguing and, even 50 years later, remarkably relevant. The story across the long view (1000's of years) provides a unique point of view and perspective that is fun to engage. And yet... I have had more fun thinking about this book and the implications of it that I did reading it. Somehow, I was not engaged, it was not a page turner for me. So put it somewhere you can pick it up on occasion, read through it slowly, and enjoy the unfolding revelations.
Read
Written at the height of the cold war (1959), Miller takes this opportunity to look at a possible future resulting from the likely nuclear holocaust decisions that he saw in his political leaders toying with. But instead of looking at the world dealing with the aftermath of a radiation event, we are treated to a historical detective story. Miller takes us on a sweeping journey through three, 500 year intervals in the three novellas that make up this book. Set in the Southwest (former) United States in an Abbey dedicated to the historical scientist/engineer Leibowitz, the monks are charged with preservation of ancient documents. They are some of the few literate people in a largely hunter/gather society. It is fascinating now, at the start of the 21st century, to think about what life will be like at the start of the 31st century. And to look back to the 11th century for clues about how dramatically life can change. Miller also asks us to think about the correlation between civilization and religion, the relationship between levels of technological advancement and secularism or religious influence. He asks us to evaluate our (American) belief in progress. The themes are intriguing and, even 50 years later, remarkably relevant. The story across the long view (1000's of years) provides a unique point of view and perspective that is fun to engage. And yet... I have had more fun thinking about this book and the implications of it that I did reading it. Somehow, I was not engaged, it was not a page turner for me. So put it somewhere you can pick it up on occasion, read through it slowly, and enjoy the unfolding revelations.
Read
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