My second National Geographic book in a month! I feel so educated.
This was a nice little book about the history of the peace symbol, from it's creation as a symbol for nuclear disarmament to the multitude of causes it represents today. Most fascinating to me were the legal battles the peace symbol has been part of, including whether decorations (such as peace signs) can be added to American flags.
On the other hand, I wasn't a fan of the layout of the book. The introductory summary to each chapter had a quotation in large letters that was interspersed with the narrative text (so you'd read a couple of lines of summary, and then be faced with a couple of words of quotation, and then go back to the summary). And then sometimes there'd be a picture in the middle of the page, but instead of splitting the text into two columns, the text continued all the way across the page. While neither choice made the book unreadable, they seemed like poor design choices from my perspective.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Review: Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
I have long been a fan of science fiction. I blame my parents: they've been Trekkers since the original series was out (though we're all nervous about that new movie that's coming out...but that's a post for a different blog!). Hence, a lot of my reading skews towards science fiction, though often it's "soft" science fiction - as opposed to hardcore Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke. Those stories focus a lot on the science and technology of the future - like a lot of Star Trek can do. The stories that generally appeal to me however are of the softer variety, where the story is clearly in the future and science-y stuff has happened, but that's kind of on the periphery and the story is going to focus more on the characters and how they feel. And while I like the "hard" science fiction, there's one big turn off for me: it's all about dudes. Women and girls don't get to have rollicking action adventures nearly often enough.
Which is why I found Zoe's Tale to be so fun. There's lots of hard science fiction in here - we've got new space colonies being settled, aliens that have had consciousness artificially installed, and space battles.
Big space battles.
And right in the thick of all of this science fiction action adventure is Zoe. Adopted daughter of the leaders of the new colony (called Roanoke. And their first settlement is Croatoan. Of course this colony is going to have Big Problems) and a revered almost-Goddess of the Obin - the aliens with the artificial consciousness, thanks to the work of Zoe's biological father. For most of her life, Zoe has constantly been accompanied by two Obin, named Hickory and Dickory, who act as her bodyguards while they record her entire life in order to teach the Obin back home about what it means to live.
Being part of the first waves of colonists to Roanoke isn't exactly exciting, but it's a lot more exciting than continuing to live a comfortable life on New Delhi, Zoe's last home. But founding the new colony becomes much more exciting (in a less-than-positive way) when the Colonial Union government reveals at the last minute that the colonists aren't being sent to the planet they originally thought - they're going to found Roanoke on a completely different planet, and be completely cut off from the rest of human civilization in order to shield the colony from being discovered by the Conclave - a group of aliens who are hostile to humans expanding their colonial presence in space. The Conclave wants to destroy Roanoke, and the only way to protect the fledgling colony was to mislead the Conclave about their location and cut off all radio contact with Roanoke.
Of course, even the best laid plans can fall apart. And that's where the science fiction action adventure really kicks in. While life on Roanoke is initially rather quiet, with the colonists having to learn how to live without any of the electric devices they've always relied on (from PDAs to farm equipment). Adapting to life on a different planet presents its own set of challenges, everything from learning to live with the rotten smell of the plant-life to the presence of other species on the planet. Zoe has some adventures while on the surface, but it's nothing compared to what happens when the Conclave does find Roanoke...and the choices Zoe must make in order to protect her family, friends, and the sacred bond she has with the Obin.
This is the fourth book in Scalzi's Old Man's War series. I haven't read any of the other books, but was convinced by Lynn Rutan's review over here that not only would this be right up my alley, but it wouldn't be hard to get into. She was absolutely right. Scalzi does an excellent job giving the backstory so it's entirely possible to enjoy this without any previous knowledge of the story. It doesn't hurt that Zoe is an incredibly fun character with razor sharp wit. Scalzi includes an extremely informative author's note at the end about how he went about writing a parallel novel (this follows the events of The Lost Colony) and writing a teenage girl. Not having read The Lost Colony, I have no idea how successful this works as a parallel piece, but he definitely got the teenage girl part exactly right.
I didn't run out immediately to get the previous Old Man's War books (I had a huge stack of books I reserved from the library come in all at once, so I have to wade through some of those first!), but I'm sure I'll eventually wander over to them.
Which is why I found Zoe's Tale to be so fun. There's lots of hard science fiction in here - we've got new space colonies being settled, aliens that have had consciousness artificially installed, and space battles.
Big space battles.
And right in the thick of all of this science fiction action adventure is Zoe. Adopted daughter of the leaders of the new colony (called Roanoke. And their first settlement is Croatoan. Of course this colony is going to have Big Problems) and a revered almost-Goddess of the Obin - the aliens with the artificial consciousness, thanks to the work of Zoe's biological father. For most of her life, Zoe has constantly been accompanied by two Obin, named Hickory and Dickory, who act as her bodyguards while they record her entire life in order to teach the Obin back home about what it means to live.
Being part of the first waves of colonists to Roanoke isn't exactly exciting, but it's a lot more exciting than continuing to live a comfortable life on New Delhi, Zoe's last home. But founding the new colony becomes much more exciting (in a less-than-positive way) when the Colonial Union government reveals at the last minute that the colonists aren't being sent to the planet they originally thought - they're going to found Roanoke on a completely different planet, and be completely cut off from the rest of human civilization in order to shield the colony from being discovered by the Conclave - a group of aliens who are hostile to humans expanding their colonial presence in space. The Conclave wants to destroy Roanoke, and the only way to protect the fledgling colony was to mislead the Conclave about their location and cut off all radio contact with Roanoke.
Of course, even the best laid plans can fall apart. And that's where the science fiction action adventure really kicks in. While life on Roanoke is initially rather quiet, with the colonists having to learn how to live without any of the electric devices they've always relied on (from PDAs to farm equipment). Adapting to life on a different planet presents its own set of challenges, everything from learning to live with the rotten smell of the plant-life to the presence of other species on the planet. Zoe has some adventures while on the surface, but it's nothing compared to what happens when the Conclave does find Roanoke...and the choices Zoe must make in order to protect her family, friends, and the sacred bond she has with the Obin.
This is the fourth book in Scalzi's Old Man's War series. I haven't read any of the other books, but was convinced by Lynn Rutan's review over here that not only would this be right up my alley, but it wouldn't be hard to get into. She was absolutely right. Scalzi does an excellent job giving the backstory so it's entirely possible to enjoy this without any previous knowledge of the story. It doesn't hurt that Zoe is an incredibly fun character with razor sharp wit. Scalzi includes an extremely informative author's note at the end about how he went about writing a parallel novel (this follows the events of The Lost Colony) and writing a teenage girl. Not having read The Lost Colony, I have no idea how successful this works as a parallel piece, but he definitely got the teenage girl part exactly right.
I didn't run out immediately to get the previous Old Man's War books (I had a huge stack of books I reserved from the library come in all at once, so I have to wade through some of those first!), but I'm sure I'll eventually wander over to them.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Review: Helen's Eyes: A Photobiography of Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's Teacher
Wow, that's a long title for such a slim book.
For years I've been fascinated by the life of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. They were a dynamic pair, and I think they always held my attention because they were a pair of women who lived their lives largely unaided by men - great role models for my young feminist self. Both women did marry, but they maintained a strong friendship and working relationship for almost fifty years.
This is a solid photobiography of Anne Sullivan's life, especially for younger readers who may know about Helen Keller but not so much about Anne Sullivan. There are lots of pictures, naturally, but they're not always the most compelling as the photography of Anne's lifetime didn't lend itself well to candid or action shots. The layout of the book is nice, though if you want to get the most of the photographs read it in a well lit area, as often they will layer sepia-toned photographs on top of each other, placing a letter or a picture of a house behind photos of Annie, Helen and other people in their lives. The sepia-on-sepia tones make it hard to see any details unless you're in direct light.
For years I've been fascinated by the life of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. They were a dynamic pair, and I think they always held my attention because they were a pair of women who lived their lives largely unaided by men - great role models for my young feminist self. Both women did marry, but they maintained a strong friendship and working relationship for almost fifty years.
This is a solid photobiography of Anne Sullivan's life, especially for younger readers who may know about Helen Keller but not so much about Anne Sullivan. There are lots of pictures, naturally, but they're not always the most compelling as the photography of Anne's lifetime didn't lend itself well to candid or action shots. The layout of the book is nice, though if you want to get the most of the photographs read it in a well lit area, as often they will layer sepia-toned photographs on top of each other, placing a letter or a picture of a house behind photos of Annie, Helen and other people in their lives. The sepia-on-sepia tones make it hard to see any details unless you're in direct light.
Review: Cherry Heaven by L.J. Adlington
Book number two of 2009. And another dystopian novel. Remember how I said I love this genre? I think I'm beginning to feel overkill. Or maybe that was just the frustration of realizing part way through the book that I was reading a sequel/companion book without having read the first one. The jacket blares in several places that LJ Adlington also wrote The Diary of Pelly D, but it doesn't say anywhere that this is a sequel and/or companion piece.
Cherry Heaven is told via alternating points of view: one that alternates between third person limited and third person omniscient (most of the book follows Kat, but will jump to someone else's POV whenever it's convenient) while Kat and Tanka J move from the battle-scarred City Five with their foster parents to the peaceful New Frontier, while the other point of view is the first person journey of a girl escaping a brutal factory and journeying across the New Frontier to find her old home and seek revenge against the people who wronged her at the factory.
Yes, it's a little convoluted at times, but over all fairly enjoyable.
Kat and Tanka are orphans who have been raised by their foster parents, though Kat and Tanka call them aunt and uncle. When Aunt Milijue and Uncle Prester are offered prestigious positions in the New Frontier - invited by the leader of the New Frontier Q Essnid himself. The family moves into a homestead called Cherry Heaven - apparently ten years ago or so the cherries raised on this farm were legendary, but then a terrible tragedy befell the family, ending the cherry supply.
Ten years ago, the New Frontier almost fell victim to the violence that was tearing apart the cities on the other side of the planet (the violence that left Kat and Tanka orphans): a madman named Oklear Foster was killing people of the Galrezi gene clan (don't ask me what exactly that means - all I know is there are three gene clans in this world and the Galrezi are pretty much universally despised. And it is apparently possible to be of a different gene clan than your parents, because Kat and Tanka's parents were Galrezi while Kat and Tanka themselves are part of the elite Atsumisi gene clan), and among the people he killed was the family at Cherry Heaven. The house has sat empty since then, though the last cherry harvest has been left untouched in the cryo-freezer.
At the same time Kat and Tanka are moving into Cherry Heaven, Luka has escaped from the Blue Mountain bottled water bottling factory. She's been forced to endure barbaric working conditions at the hands of Director and Bossman for the last ten years. But she is determined to prove that she is not merely Galrezi scum, but is in fact smarter than anyone and hatches an ingenious - and painful - plan to escape. Of course, escaping the factory is just the first step. She has to travel on foot as winter looms, avoiding the security forces that are searching for her and want to put her back into the hellhole of the factory.
Kat and Tanka must adjust to life on the New Frontier as dangers loom around them. Wanted posters around town make Luka seem like a half-crazed maniac, and Kat is sure she keeps seeing a man lurking in the cherry orchard. In the meantime, they must also contend with finding new friends (and boyfriends), and an ongoing contest sponsored by Blue Mountain, where the finder of a marked bottle cap will win a day with the world's biggest movie star.
Overall I had a lot of frustrations with this book. There was so much that wasn't answered for me, and I'm not sure how much of that was because it's a sequel and how much was sloppy writing. Why on earth (well, whatever planet they're actually on - humans destroyed Earth through a multitude of wars long ago and humanity has now migrated to another planet) does everyone have gills? As I asked above, how can children belong to a different gene clan than their parents? I'm no scientist, but it seems to me that gene clan would refer to the genes you inherit from your parents. Did Milijue and Prester fake Kat and Tanka's gene test? And then there's the mystery at the heart of the novel - what happened ten years ago at Cherry Heaven? A satisfactory answer (or even excuse!) is never presented. I have to admit, I'm mildly curious as to how much of this is answered in the previous book, but I don't know if I'm curious enough to actually seek it out, as I fear I would just find more frustration.
Cherry Heaven is told via alternating points of view: one that alternates between third person limited and third person omniscient (most of the book follows Kat, but will jump to someone else's POV whenever it's convenient) while Kat and Tanka J move from the battle-scarred City Five with their foster parents to the peaceful New Frontier, while the other point of view is the first person journey of a girl escaping a brutal factory and journeying across the New Frontier to find her old home and seek revenge against the people who wronged her at the factory.
Yes, it's a little convoluted at times, but over all fairly enjoyable.
Kat and Tanka are orphans who have been raised by their foster parents, though Kat and Tanka call them aunt and uncle. When Aunt Milijue and Uncle Prester are offered prestigious positions in the New Frontier - invited by the leader of the New Frontier Q Essnid himself. The family moves into a homestead called Cherry Heaven - apparently ten years ago or so the cherries raised on this farm were legendary, but then a terrible tragedy befell the family, ending the cherry supply.
Ten years ago, the New Frontier almost fell victim to the violence that was tearing apart the cities on the other side of the planet (the violence that left Kat and Tanka orphans): a madman named Oklear Foster was killing people of the Galrezi gene clan (don't ask me what exactly that means - all I know is there are three gene clans in this world and the Galrezi are pretty much universally despised. And it is apparently possible to be of a different gene clan than your parents, because Kat and Tanka's parents were Galrezi while Kat and Tanka themselves are part of the elite Atsumisi gene clan), and among the people he killed was the family at Cherry Heaven. The house has sat empty since then, though the last cherry harvest has been left untouched in the cryo-freezer.
At the same time Kat and Tanka are moving into Cherry Heaven, Luka has escaped from the Blue Mountain bottled water bottling factory. She's been forced to endure barbaric working conditions at the hands of Director and Bossman for the last ten years. But she is determined to prove that she is not merely Galrezi scum, but is in fact smarter than anyone and hatches an ingenious - and painful - plan to escape. Of course, escaping the factory is just the first step. She has to travel on foot as winter looms, avoiding the security forces that are searching for her and want to put her back into the hellhole of the factory.
Kat and Tanka must adjust to life on the New Frontier as dangers loom around them. Wanted posters around town make Luka seem like a half-crazed maniac, and Kat is sure she keeps seeing a man lurking in the cherry orchard. In the meantime, they must also contend with finding new friends (and boyfriends), and an ongoing contest sponsored by Blue Mountain, where the finder of a marked bottle cap will win a day with the world's biggest movie star.
Overall I had a lot of frustrations with this book. There was so much that wasn't answered for me, and I'm not sure how much of that was because it's a sequel and how much was sloppy writing. Why on earth (well, whatever planet they're actually on - humans destroyed Earth through a multitude of wars long ago and humanity has now migrated to another planet) does everyone have gills? As I asked above, how can children belong to a different gene clan than their parents? I'm no scientist, but it seems to me that gene clan would refer to the genes you inherit from your parents. Did Milijue and Prester fake Kat and Tanka's gene test? And then there's the mystery at the heart of the novel - what happened ten years ago at Cherry Heaven? A satisfactory answer (or even excuse!) is never presented. I have to admit, I'm mildly curious as to how much of this is answered in the previous book, but I don't know if I'm curious enough to actually seek it out, as I fear I would just find more frustration.
Review: Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
My first book of 2009! That I read several days ago...I do my blogging in spurts. I'll spend a couple of days reading and working, and then use my days off to catch up on all of my blogging. Not the most sustainable method of blogging, but it's what I've got.
Ten Cents a Dance is a heartbreaking and in some ways terrifying story of a teenaged taxi dancer during WWII. Ruby Jacinski has lived her whole life in Chicago's Back of the Yards. After her single mother is no longer able to work in the physically demanding meat packing plant, Ruby quits school and takes up at the plant in her mother's place. She works in the least glamorous place imaginable - packing jars of pickled pigs feet (bleck!).
Whenever she can convince her mother to let her out of the house, however, Ruby loves to go with her best friend from the neighborhood to dance halls. Ruby is an excellent dancer, and her moves, good looks and spunk attract the attention of one of the neighborhood's bad boys, Paulie Suelze, who suggests she start working at the Starlight Dance Academy, where she could pull down as much as $50 a week. Compared to her $12 a week salary at the meat packing plant, Ruby jumps at the chance.
Of course, the Starlight Dance Academy isn't the sort of place Ruby's mother wants her working, even before Ruby realizes how seedy the joint is (she originally believes it's a very elegant and respectable establishment), and so begins Ruby's balancing act. She must keep her mother and younger sister believing that she's a telephone switchboard operator. As a dancer at the club, she has to balance the needs and desires of a diverse client base in order to keep raking in the generous tips and free after work meals that pad her regular pay check. On the one hand she has an extremely generous but rather straight-laced and racist benefactor, and on the other she and a friend have been entertaining a pair of Filipino gentlemen who may not have the most money but can dance and enjoy going to hopping jazz joints. There are the other women at the Starlight who are all vying for the same pool of men in order to keep earning money. And then there's Paulie, who starts dating Ruby behind her mother's back (another secret she has to keep from her family), who doesn't seem to care about what Ruby does at work, but is increasing the pressure on her to be "sweet" to him in the backseat of his car.
In short, it's a tangled web that Ruby falls into. She fights racism, attempted rape, pressure for sex, family loyalty, balancing work and home life, having a socially unacceptable job - and all of this against the background of the beginning of World War II and Chicago's ethnically divided neighborhoods.
There was a lot going on in this book (just look at all the tags this one fits under), but Fletcher handled all of it wonderfully, in part because she didn't try to give everything equal significance. For example, a lot of the racism happened on the periphery or in the background, as there were some jazz clubs that Ruby and her Filipino date couldn't get into because of his ethnicity, and a lot of the women at the Starlight carelessly threw around racial slurs when referring to the different types of men who might patron the establishment (the worst of it happens after Pearl Harbor).
At some points, Ruby is painfully naive, but it added to the weight and the heartbreak of the story, especially because Ruby tries so hard to be tough and worldly.
The author's note at the end of the book gives some fascinating insight into the creation of the book, from Fletcher's inspiration to the extensive research she put into the book (she really wanted to know exactly where all of the various ethnic neighborhoods were and what people of different groups thought of each other).
Ten Cents a Dance is a heartbreaking and in some ways terrifying story of a teenaged taxi dancer during WWII. Ruby Jacinski has lived her whole life in Chicago's Back of the Yards. After her single mother is no longer able to work in the physically demanding meat packing plant, Ruby quits school and takes up at the plant in her mother's place. She works in the least glamorous place imaginable - packing jars of pickled pigs feet (bleck!).
Whenever she can convince her mother to let her out of the house, however, Ruby loves to go with her best friend from the neighborhood to dance halls. Ruby is an excellent dancer, and her moves, good looks and spunk attract the attention of one of the neighborhood's bad boys, Paulie Suelze, who suggests she start working at the Starlight Dance Academy, where she could pull down as much as $50 a week. Compared to her $12 a week salary at the meat packing plant, Ruby jumps at the chance.
Of course, the Starlight Dance Academy isn't the sort of place Ruby's mother wants her working, even before Ruby realizes how seedy the joint is (she originally believes it's a very elegant and respectable establishment), and so begins Ruby's balancing act. She must keep her mother and younger sister believing that she's a telephone switchboard operator. As a dancer at the club, she has to balance the needs and desires of a diverse client base in order to keep raking in the generous tips and free after work meals that pad her regular pay check. On the one hand she has an extremely generous but rather straight-laced and racist benefactor, and on the other she and a friend have been entertaining a pair of Filipino gentlemen who may not have the most money but can dance and enjoy going to hopping jazz joints. There are the other women at the Starlight who are all vying for the same pool of men in order to keep earning money. And then there's Paulie, who starts dating Ruby behind her mother's back (another secret she has to keep from her family), who doesn't seem to care about what Ruby does at work, but is increasing the pressure on her to be "sweet" to him in the backseat of his car.
In short, it's a tangled web that Ruby falls into. She fights racism, attempted rape, pressure for sex, family loyalty, balancing work and home life, having a socially unacceptable job - and all of this against the background of the beginning of World War II and Chicago's ethnically divided neighborhoods.
There was a lot going on in this book (just look at all the tags this one fits under), but Fletcher handled all of it wonderfully, in part because she didn't try to give everything equal significance. For example, a lot of the racism happened on the periphery or in the background, as there were some jazz clubs that Ruby and her Filipino date couldn't get into because of his ethnicity, and a lot of the women at the Starlight carelessly threw around racial slurs when referring to the different types of men who might patron the establishment (the worst of it happens after Pearl Harbor).
At some points, Ruby is painfully naive, but it added to the weight and the heartbreak of the story, especially because Ruby tries so hard to be tough and worldly.
The author's note at the end of the book gives some fascinating insight into the creation of the book, from Fletcher's inspiration to the extensive research she put into the book (she really wanted to know exactly where all of the various ethnic neighborhoods were and what people of different groups thought of each other).
Friday, January 2, 2009
Favorite books of 2008
So we're on the second day of 2009, and I'm still ruminating on 2008. Procrastination has always been one of my finer talents.
Here are some of my favorite books that I read in 2008. Not all were published this year (though most of them were, because I've been pulling books to read from the list of BBYA nominated titles), but all of them were read at some point between January 1st and December 31st 2008.
In no particular order:
Here are some of my favorite books that I read in 2008. Not all were published this year (though most of them were, because I've been pulling books to read from the list of BBYA nominated titles), but all of them were read at some point between January 1st and December 31st 2008.
In no particular order:
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
This may be my favorite book of the year. It has everything that I love in a book: a kick ass female protagonist, action and adventure, a smart and exciting plot, dystopian governments, and did I mention that Katniss quite literally kicks ass? I started reading this book on the way to work one day (as so much of my reading is done on the subway - it's possibly the best part about living in New York), and I read the first third or so on the subway and during my breaks at work. I got home and did a little bit more reading until I got to the end of the chapter when it was announced that the Hunger Games were about to begin. I took a short break to go to the bathroom, get a drink and check my e-mail. I had posted on Good Reads earlier in the day that I was reading the book, and Cindy Dobrez commented that she couldn't wait to hear what I thought. I replied to tell her that so far I was enjoying it, but I had to leave because the Hunger Games had begun.
Three hours later I returned to the computer to begin raving semi-incoherently to anyone who would listen about how much I loved this book. I drove my fiance crazy while I was reading it because I couldn't keep quiet. And then I discovered that the author was going to be in town that weekend, and I just so happened to have the day off of work, so I woke up way too early on a Saturday morning in order to haul myself into Union Square and meet Suzanne Collins (and several other awesome YA authors). The author event wasn't as awesome as I had hoped it would be, but that doesn't take away how much I loved this book. - The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart.
I've read three of the five books nominated for the National Book Award young people's literature category this year: This one, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson and What I Saw and How I Lied, the eventual winner. From those three, in my not so humble opinion, Disreputable History is by far the best! Frankie is incredibly smart and witty, though not immune from the charms of a handsome older boy and, perhaps most impressive to me, she isn't afraid of the word "feminist." For Frankie, it's an obvious thing that she's a feminist and she doesn't understand why some people think that's weird. And because Frankie self-identifies as a feminist, it gives the epic pranks she orchestrates throughout the novel a much deeper level of meaning. - The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex.
This was the book I read for most of my road trip out to New York. Driving halfway across the country with three very unhappy cats in the backseat made me very sympathetic to Tip's trials and tribulations with her cat, Pig.
This was just a pure fun science fiction adventure story. This is a book that is going to be enjoyed by readers for years. - The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent.
I've read a lot of books on the Salem Witch Trials. A lot. I can't tell you how many research papers and book reports I've done on the trials. And yet I'd never read a book from this point of view: the daughter of someone accused of witch craft. Yet the book is engrossing long before the trials enter the picture: danger lurks around every corner in this book, starting with fears of disease and death before moving on to jealous neighbors and the news from nearby Salem that a group of young girls are accusing their neighbors of witchcraft, and the courts are sentencing people to death based on these accusations. While The Hunger Games had me gasping with excitement and anticipation throughout, The Heretic's Daughter is one of the few books that has actually brought me to tears (the Salem prison is a terrifying place). - Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer.
As my last couple of posts have made abundantly clear, I love books about the end of the world. While the last several end-of-the-world books I've read have dealt with the aftermath long after the initial tragedy, Life as We Knew It and this year's companion novel The Dead and the Gone deal with the disaster as it happens. The premise is an asteroid hits the moon, knocking it out of its usual orbit and closer to earth, which of course wreaks havoc with the environment. Life as We Knew It is a more rural story, as Miranda and her family struggle to survive in their home while The Dead and the Gone is about a boy alone with his two sisters in New York City. They are two very different looks at the same disaster, which I found fascinating. Overall I felt Life as We Knew It was the stronger story, as The Dead and the Gone felt like it struggled too much with balancing what the readers needed to know: it had to give enough information on the disaster to keep new readers up to date, but it didn't want to bore readers of the first book by rehashing the details, which made the first third of the book feel very uneven and ultimately like it wouldn't be very satisfying for a new reader. - Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.
The link leads to my earlier review of this one. Nothing really new to add, except that I still really like it :-)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Review: Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper
Still catching up on the slew of books I read in the last couple of days of 2008. I've already finished my first book of 2009 (though I did technically start it yesterday), plus I want to do some sort of write up on my favorite books of 2008...I don't work for the next two days, so hopefully I'll catch up!
But first, Newes from the Dead.
It took all of my self control not to just flip to the end of the book and to learn what happened here. This is the story of Anne Greene, a woman who was hanged for infanticide, yet didn't die.
The book is told from two points of view in alternating chapters, starting with Anne Greene conscious, but unable to move. She knows she was hanged, and knows she should be dead, and yet...she doesn't seem to be. So Anne goes back to the beginning, and through her chapters relays the story of how she came to the gallows, as well as reflecting on where she may be now (purgatory? hell? Certainly not heaven, though at one point she thinks she sees angels).
The rest of the story takes place after Anne has been cut down from the gallows. She has been declared dead, and scholars and doctors are beginning to gather above an apothecary's shop in order to witness the dissection of Anne's corpse. Hers is one of the five bodies a year given to science in order for the scholarly men to learn about the human body. While these chapters are told in the third person, they are told from the point of view of Robert, a young scholar with a severe stuttering speech impediment. He's a smart and compassionate young man, and observant: he will be the first to notice movement under Anne's eyelids.
Neither half of the story seemed very interesting. Anne's story of how she ended up being sentenced to death is one that will be familiar to anyone who's read realistic fiction about maids in powerful households. Robert's half of the story is slow and methodical - we go through several chapters of waiting before all of the observers and doctors even show up to begin the dissection. Most of the drama in the early Robert chapters comes from Anne's former employer being impatient for the dissection to begin.
I kept reading because I wanted to know how on Earth Anne had survived a hanging, and just how well she survived. Was she going to be a vegetable? Or make a full recovery? The story itself never actually answers these questions. There's a comprehensive author's note at the end that explains what happened to Anne and the current theory on how she avoided dying. At the end is included the historical pamphlet with a contemporary account of Anne's story. Really, that was all I needed to satisfy my curiosity. The idea of someone surviving a hanging is interesting, but there really wasn't enough here to merit an entire novel.
But first, Newes from the Dead.
It took all of my self control not to just flip to the end of the book and to learn what happened here. This is the story of Anne Greene, a woman who was hanged for infanticide, yet didn't die.
The book is told from two points of view in alternating chapters, starting with Anne Greene conscious, but unable to move. She knows she was hanged, and knows she should be dead, and yet...she doesn't seem to be. So Anne goes back to the beginning, and through her chapters relays the story of how she came to the gallows, as well as reflecting on where she may be now (purgatory? hell? Certainly not heaven, though at one point she thinks she sees angels).
The rest of the story takes place after Anne has been cut down from the gallows. She has been declared dead, and scholars and doctors are beginning to gather above an apothecary's shop in order to witness the dissection of Anne's corpse. Hers is one of the five bodies a year given to science in order for the scholarly men to learn about the human body. While these chapters are told in the third person, they are told from the point of view of Robert, a young scholar with a severe stuttering speech impediment. He's a smart and compassionate young man, and observant: he will be the first to notice movement under Anne's eyelids.
Neither half of the story seemed very interesting. Anne's story of how she ended up being sentenced to death is one that will be familiar to anyone who's read realistic fiction about maids in powerful households. Robert's half of the story is slow and methodical - we go through several chapters of waiting before all of the observers and doctors even show up to begin the dissection. Most of the drama in the early Robert chapters comes from Anne's former employer being impatient for the dissection to begin.
I kept reading because I wanted to know how on Earth Anne had survived a hanging, and just how well she survived. Was she going to be a vegetable? Or make a full recovery? The story itself never actually answers these questions. There's a comprehensive author's note at the end that explains what happened to Anne and the current theory on how she avoided dying. At the end is included the historical pamphlet with a contemporary account of Anne's story. Really, that was all I needed to satisfy my curiosity. The idea of someone surviving a hanging is interesting, but there really wasn't enough here to merit an entire novel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
