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.
Read
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.
Read
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.
Read
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
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
Sherman Alexie
A somewhat autobiographical tale of life on the reservation. Alexie is a Spokane Indian and this collection of stories provides us a picture of modern reservation life. By no means is this a linear story of Alexie's life as he portrayed in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Instead, since these are fictional short stories, we are not really sure which character would be Alexie and the stories are mythological in scope. What I found fascinating was how, even after more than a century removed from traditional Indian life, a large part of life is spent struggling with the integration of traditional and "modern" life, both in terms of day to day living and in terms of expectations for how to live. What also comes through strongly is the honor given to tradition. It is clear that fancydancing and storytelling continue to provide a lot of meaning. By presenting these short stories, by embracing the free form, mythological storytelling style, Alexie provides real insight to how modern Indians think and who they are.
Read
A somewhat autobiographical tale of life on the reservation. Alexie is a Spokane Indian and this collection of stories provides us a picture of modern reservation life. By no means is this a linear story of Alexie's life as he portrayed in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Instead, since these are fictional short stories, we are not really sure which character would be Alexie and the stories are mythological in scope. What I found fascinating was how, even after more than a century removed from traditional Indian life, a large part of life is spent struggling with the integration of traditional and "modern" life, both in terms of day to day living and in terms of expectations for how to live. What also comes through strongly is the honor given to tradition. It is clear that fancydancing and storytelling continue to provide a lot of meaning. By presenting these short stories, by embracing the free form, mythological storytelling style, Alexie provides real insight to how modern Indians think and who they are.
Read
Friday, May 23, 2014
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China
Leslie T. Chang
I am not sure what genre this book falls in. It is part autobiography/memoir, part expose, part cultural exploration. Chang is a reporter who, while living in China for several years, also explores her own family history. She does this by investigating/developing relationships with the migrant class in south China. This class is predominantly female (70%) and young (starting at 15, with 20 somethings finding themselves old and experienced). They have moved from the village, where they lived on a family farm, and entered the big manufacturing cities. These cities are factory driven, with 10 million or so people living with the purpose of producing goods and (initially at least) sending money back home. Chang befriends some of the women working in the factory and writes about their transition to city life over the course of several years. This portion of the book is fascinating, and it is a bit of an expose about life in the big factories that produce all of our products. However, Chang focuses on the actions/life of the workers, including their own dreams & struggles. This means we are not being taken into a moralistic, anti-consumerist, worker-quality-of-life outrage against the corporation. Instead, we are looking at people and individual decisions about what makes life good and what makes life hard. We are looking at the changing of a culture from holding a collective, community based value to one in which individualism is king. This brings us to a place where we can really think about cultural differences and our (U.S.) role in globalization.
Chang intersperses this fascinating story with an exploration of her own family history. It just so happens that her genealogy includes advisors to emperors and participants in the events leading up to the cultural revolution. For me, this section loses steam. But I suppose it was necessary to allow a real comparison between the village-centric life (her uncle gives her a 30 generation genealogy and explains that its main purpose was to ensure that marriages did not happen between relatives who were too close) and the individual focus existence that is being promoted by the factory. I loved the exploration of how generations shake of values of their elders or if it is even possible to do so. I loved thinking about other community cultures in Latin America or Africa where land ownership has differed dramatically from China, and wondered how a view of the land could so dramatically affect a view of family. I loved thinking about globalization and its relationship to consumerist and individualistic identities in the producer, wondering about how these changing identities will manifest in culture.
This is a fascinating book to read, although it was slow enough at times that I had to commit to picking it back up. In the end, the whole process holds together and Chang makes it worth your while.
Read
I am not sure what genre this book falls in. It is part autobiography/memoir, part expose, part cultural exploration. Chang is a reporter who, while living in China for several years, also explores her own family history. She does this by investigating/developing relationships with the migrant class in south China. This class is predominantly female (70%) and young (starting at 15, with 20 somethings finding themselves old and experienced). They have moved from the village, where they lived on a family farm, and entered the big manufacturing cities. These cities are factory driven, with 10 million or so people living with the purpose of producing goods and (initially at least) sending money back home. Chang befriends some of the women working in the factory and writes about their transition to city life over the course of several years. This portion of the book is fascinating, and it is a bit of an expose about life in the big factories that produce all of our products. However, Chang focuses on the actions/life of the workers, including their own dreams & struggles. This means we are not being taken into a moralistic, anti-consumerist, worker-quality-of-life outrage against the corporation. Instead, we are looking at people and individual decisions about what makes life good and what makes life hard. We are looking at the changing of a culture from holding a collective, community based value to one in which individualism is king. This brings us to a place where we can really think about cultural differences and our (U.S.) role in globalization.
Chang intersperses this fascinating story with an exploration of her own family history. It just so happens that her genealogy includes advisors to emperors and participants in the events leading up to the cultural revolution. For me, this section loses steam. But I suppose it was necessary to allow a real comparison between the village-centric life (her uncle gives her a 30 generation genealogy and explains that its main purpose was to ensure that marriages did not happen between relatives who were too close) and the individual focus existence that is being promoted by the factory. I loved the exploration of how generations shake of values of their elders or if it is even possible to do so. I loved thinking about other community cultures in Latin America or Africa where land ownership has differed dramatically from China, and wondered how a view of the land could so dramatically affect a view of family. I loved thinking about globalization and its relationship to consumerist and individualistic identities in the producer, wondering about how these changing identities will manifest in culture.
This is a fascinating book to read, although it was slow enough at times that I had to commit to picking it back up. In the end, the whole process holds together and Chang makes it worth your while.
Read
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