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If its possible to imagine a book written with influences of a Guillermo Del Toro film, this would be it. The story follows Jacob Portman, a young man who has grown up with an extremely close relationship to his mysterious grandfather.
All his life ...moreIf its possible to imagine a book written with influences of a Guillermo Del Toro film, this would be it. The story follows Jacob Portman, a young man who has grown up with an extremely close relationship to his mysterious grandfather.
All his life Grandpa Portman (Abe) has told Jacob strange and wonderful tales of an orphanage on a remote island where he had lived amongst children that had fantastic powers. He even has photographs to "proove" this as truth! An invisible boy, a brother and sister with Herculean strength. Jacod devours each tale as truth, however as Jacob grows up both mockery from his classmates and second looks at the photographs leave him to believe that Abe has indeed been telling tall tales. However, Abe also warned Jacob about monsters who would bring harm to himself and the other children. Monsters he has hunted down and killed. Monsters that still haunt him. Jacob's parents tell him that Abe had been the lone survivor of his family during the Holocaust. The other children where also refugees and the "monsters" were of course the Nazis.
However, when Jacob recieves a panicked phone call from his grandfather only to arrive as he dies from what appears to be a grisly animal attack, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur.
It turns out there is truth to both Abe's tales and Jake's parents' version of cold hard truth. At the risk of his own sanity Jacob discovers clues that lead him on a journey to find the truth. If I say anything else I would be giving it away, and I really don't want to do that.
What really makes this book unique are the bizarre old photographs sprinkled througout the text. Riggs, our author collected these and carefully intergrated them into the story to illuminate the setting and characters. I truly believe that without these photographs the enchantment would not have held. However they are just so mysterious and unsettling they bring a real clever quality to Jacob's story and discovering that these are actual photographs which have been intergrated into the book just brings the creep factor up a few notches. This is not to say that the book can be categorized as horror but it has a dark touch to it that surely sets it apart and the photographs solidify it.
However, I must say that my oddest complaint about this book is that I wish it had not actually been a segway into what appears to be a series. I was hoping it would be a great one shot read and it left me wondering if the magic would hold through another volume. I will definitely give book two a shot as you should try this one.(less)
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Do you work as a librarian for a living?
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Yes
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Andy Raskin may not be a likable narrator. He may not even be or have been a likable person, though he seems to have had no problems getting women to sleep with him, however many people seem to think women generally like assholes and anyway one does...moreAndy Raskin may not be a likable narrator. He may not even be or have been a likable person, though he seems to have had no problems getting women to sleep with him, however many people seem to think women generally like assholes and anyway one doesn't have to be in a "relationship" in order to engage in "carnal relations".
Andy Raskin is, however, an engaging writer who is able to relate to his readers while talking about some of the more unsavory flaws in his own personality. The book uses alternating stories of Raskin's terrible habit of cheating on women he dates and that of the life of Momofuku Ando, the creator of instant Ramen. The two connect as Raskin writes letters to Ando confessing his sins as part of a 12 step program.
For years Raskin has ruined everything good that comes his way. Love, career, friendships. He habitually pushes away people who care about him and obsessively trolls the internet for sex while faithful women he claims to love either remain ignorant or turn a blind eye. As much of a jerk as he is his story is still very engaging. Raskin is a Nipponophile who reads Manga about food and cooking, a strangely endearing quirk. He befriends a old curmudgeonly sushi chef and his wife. He challenges himself to engage in bizarre challenges like those in Japanese game shows. But this is as much a story about Ando as it is Raskin.
You see, when Raskin's intimacy problem becomes to much for him to bare he joins a group (which is most likely an offshoot of AA for sex addicts) where his sponsor prompts him to pick a "higher power" to whom he must relinquish his will. After reading an article on Ando, Raskin decides he is the perfect deity. Raskin relates trials of Ando's life, success and failures all the while sharing his letters to his "noodle god" about the terrible ways he has treated not only women but other people who love him. Not too long into his program, Raskin decides he must try to meet the Noodle King in person.
While there is no perfect ending this story, if Raskin succeeds in his quest I will not say, the journey is a great read. Maybe an imperfect ending is in fact perfect for a story about several imperfections of the human condition? Give this one a whirl. If anything you may save a few bucks on groceries due to a distinct craving for ramen.(less)
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Jessica Day George continues her trend of penning fresh fantasy novels with genuine heroines. Plucky Princess Celie (short for Cecelia) inhabits a living castle along with her parents (The King and Queen, naturally) and her three siblings Bran, Lila...moreJessica Day George continues her trend of penning fresh fantasy novels with genuine heroines. Plucky Princess Celie (short for Cecelia) inhabits a living castle along with her parents (The King and Queen, naturally) and her three siblings Bran, Lilah and Rolf. We are assured from the begining that if the royals were unworthy by any means, Castle Glower would not allow them to rule. It is true that their home is a being with a mind of its own. On Tuesdays in particular, Castle Glower will usually grow and change. It frequently adds rooms and passageways, moves living quarters according to the talents of those who sleep within (Rolf's room was moved next to the throne room, so it was certain the castle felt he should be heir to the throne) and even arranges marriages by locking two people into a room with no way out until they see they are fit for one another. How else do you think the King and Queen fell in love?
The story eases us into the common life of this lighthearted and loving royal family. Celie is the baby, whom everyone loves. Lilah (Delilah) is smart and nurturing and Rolf is a leader even at age 14. Bran, however, we do not meet as we are told he is graduating from the Wizard Academy. The Castle, you see, had begun to fill his rooms with magic books thus convincing the King he is to be a Wizard. So you see, he is about to graduate and the King and Queen must travel to witness the ceremony and bring him home. Therefore they entrust the Castle to their younger children and their children in care of their council. Unfortunately for the Glower children, the Castle leads them to a tower where they witness their parent's carriage destroyed through a spyglass. At once they are informed that they are orphans, and yet the Castle has yet to change their rooms nor has it made Rolf's more Kingly, so Celie believes in her heart they are not dead.
The story moves at a fine pace, though not fast by any means. As the family prepares for a funeral and foreign monarchs arrive to "pay their respects" Celie uncovers a plot between the evil Prince Khelsh and the King's own council to dispatch of Rolf. Each of the children deal with this news in a different way. Lilah works with Pogue, the flirtatious son of a blacksmith to sneak in and out of the Kingdom and research the veracity of their parents' demise. Rolf uses Celie's information to play a dangerous game of wits and politics. Celie herself uses her kinship with the Castle to gather information and allies.
While there is much adventure and some espionage, this is a whimsical story with a brave young girl at its heart. Celie's actions seem natural for a girl her age. Her relationship with the Castle is lovely. While one may expect more twists and turns from George while comparing this with her other series, this one remains a delight in its own.(less)
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I would love to give this one a solid 3.5 stars. The only reason it would not be higher in my ratings scale is the fact that I felt the writing to be inconsistent.
The story on the other hand is one rarely found when dealing with youth WWII literat...moreI would love to give this one a solid 3.5 stars. The only reason it would not be higher in my ratings scale is the fact that I felt the writing to be inconsistent.
The story on the other hand is one rarely found when dealing with youth WWII literature. While I have read numerous stories of jewish holocaust victims in hiding or on the run, valuable in their own way because to ignore that what happened in literature is criminal for numerous reasons, it is always equally as important to get a sense of what was going on in other facets of this dark point in history which is really not that far in the past.
Like "The Devil in Vienna" and "T4" we get to see other sides of the atrocities which lurked within the dark corners of Nazi Germany. In "Devil" , Inge, a young jewish girl finds that her best friend Leiselotte remains faithful to her in spite of Leiselotte's father's rise in the Reich and the brainwashing she receives in her Hitler Youth chapter. In "T4" we learn about the Nazi vendetta against the handicapped and the Roma. Auslander brings us right to the doorstep of the Hitler Youth agenda and the people within.
Now I will state here that I am generally not a fan of WWII fiction. It is not because I do not find it important to exist. As I mentioned above it is quite the opposite, but of late I feel that it has become an easy out for an author who wishes to write a juvenile Historical Fiction novel. There are just so many of them. They begin to blend together. Surely there are plenty of other points in history which could be explored and are valuable in spite of this one being so recent and for many so raw. What I do always find fascinating is the ones that depart from the formula. I could mention Markus Zuzak's "The Book Thief" here, but somehow the "death as narrator" gimmick makes it vaguely something else to me.
So Auslander is the story of Piotr/Peter a young Polish boy who's parents were killed in a car crash involving a German tank after the invasion of Poland. He is plucked from his orphanage by the Reich because he is blond haired and blue eyed, therefore of use to the "racial purity" of Germany under the Reich. At first Peter is very eager to become a part of this. He showboats his ability to speak perfect German in front of his Polish mates who brand him a traitor. He repeatedly tells those who take him to Germany that this is what he wants when they accuse him of trying to run off.
Yet, Peter fails to find funny the jokes about "Lazy Pollacks" or "Dirty Jews" that are made by the people he is so grateful to for finding him to be "special". He goes along with them not commenting and following directions even so. Eventually Peter is adopted by a "respectable" German family who's Patriarch is a "Genetic Scientist". Ummm, yeah. You can use your imagination as to what THAT means but it involves lots about detecting "undesirable" strains in people's genetic make up. Peter tries hard to please his new family and joins the Hitler Youth as expected. At first he is glad to be part of something even though he feels increasing discomfort in what he is aspiring to. He is relieved to meet Segar, another boy in his chapter who seems to make light of the seriousness placed in front of him. Then he meets Anna.
Anna is the perfect example of what a young German girl should be, even if she DOES have dark hair. She is head of her chapter for the Jungmadel. She repeats the ideals of Nazi Germany so fluidly it is as if her life depends on it... which it does because she is actually aiding the resistance. From here Peter and Anna find romance while secretly listening to BBC broadcasts, exploring the underground Swing movement and learning to do what is right even if it scares the hell out of them.
While the perspectives in this book are fairly unique (an anti Nazi story told from the perspective of two HJ members) as mentioned before it is far from perfect. The writing is choppy. At points it feels as if parts of the unfinished draft notes are left in the final copy. Peter sometimes comes across as fleshed out, relatable and likable and other times he just seems to be a cardboard cutout. Wonderful are all the descriptions of his changing feelings and confusion as to if he should join the resistance. Not so great are the points when it seems the author is just listing things that happened and changing perspective just because. Some really poor "show don't tell" violations cushioned between action and suspense.
Peter and Anna's complicated friendship with Segar comes across as genuine as does Peter's confrontation with his foster sister who has become an "empty shell" since her time as a T4 nurse, yet is still full of Nazi poison.
I was also annoyed that the F word was uttered early on in the book when Peter secretly began bringing food to Polish captives being used as slave labor. I'm not a prude and enjoy using the word myself but it makes the book inaccessible to younger grades for recommendation. I think this would be a great book for advanced 4th graders and up in spite of some references to kissing, forced sterilization and cross dressing. All of those things are what they are. Boys and girls kiss. We have plenty of books with that and not much else in the Children's Department. The other two things are facts of life. Nazi's sought to sterilize those who had any "bad blood" in their opinions and we have some books that touch lightly on cross dressing as something some people do (one is even a picture book). However, I cannot give this book to a child if it has such "adult" language in it because I don't think I would be able to aptly defend it not being in the YA department for that reason. This is a great disappointment to me as a children's librarian. It was completely unnecessary in a book that could have otherwise been given to a younger reluctant reader.
So I give this one a thumbs up in general. It has its faults but is a solid entry to the pool of Historical Fiction. It would be well paired with both fiction and non fiction books dealing with the White Rose group who's resistance efforts ended tragically in the execution of several German youths who distributed anti-Nazi leaflets during the war.
A sad point in history and yet great perspective on standing up when your own life could be at stake.(less)
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Here is a book that is clever without being smug, and cynical while standing for something, both of which are all too rare.
Marcus is a smart-alec kid who is slightly too smart for his own good. He casually exploits the system and its loo...
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Read more of this review »
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3.75 Stars:
This is one of those books you know is going to be an instant, "mainstream" cult classic. There are going to be those who are going to love it for every reason from 80's pop culture nostalgia to the dystopian future angle. Then there a...more3.75 Stars:
This is one of those books you know is going to be an instant, "mainstream" cult classic. There are going to be those who are going to love it for every reason from 80's pop culture nostalgia to the dystopian future angle. Then there are going to be those who claim they like it and really just skimmed it lightly because the techno-geek babble and constant references to movies, video games and such was mostly lost on them except for a few better known ones.
I thought this was a good fun read. I wouldn't call it an instant classic but I know there will be several people using those terms. I picked it up at work on a pile of ARC's and thought it looked interesting. It was certainly a great commentary on the disconnection technology can promote between breathing human beings, though instead of denouncing the idea of sitting in front of a computer and letting a digitized Avatar live your life in a synthetic world versus going outside and looking a real person in the eye, this book seems to hail the former as almost preferable. I think that is my biggest peeve about the book. Having seen various results of this I am driven crazy by the lack of time people seem to want to spend outside of the fantasy of technology. In the context of the book, however this does in fact seem preferable.
So I must admit, I go into this book with a bit of prejudice against those who feel they really "know" people they play MMORPG's with. But to review the book itself I must put that aside.
So here goes:
The year is 2044. Wade Watts AKA Perzival (referencing Sir Percival of Monty Python's take on the exploits of King Arthur) is a "gunter". You see, his world is built around the OASIS, a virtual reality operating system over which all business and interaction is run. Even public schools are run through this escapist world in which users can explore virtual worlds based on their favorite science fiction, fantasy or what have you works in their free time. Since the outside world has pretty much turned to crap due to war, recession and climate change, this is all preferable.
The Oasis was built by Jim Halliday and is friend Ogden Morrow. Halliday was a D&D geek with Asperger's Syndrome and an affinity for the pop culture of the 1980's, which was the decade he had spent in his teenage years. Through his innovation he grossed billions of dollars but had no heir as his social skills were such that he had trouble connecting with anyone romantically. Upon his death he announced that he hid an "easter egg" within the Oasis which could be reached by those who could crack the riddles which lead to it. Whomever found the egg would become the owner of his fortune. Thus gunters (I can only assume this is web speak for "Egg Hunters") were born.
Wade is intelligent but not always likable. He lives in poverty and "hangs out with" his best friend Aech in the Oasis. The two contemplate the meaning of Halliday's first clue until Perzival cracks it and the game begins. Thus enters a few more characters. Art3mis (the name Artemis was taken over Oasis so she resorted to l33t speak) who is Perzival/Wade's cyber crush, Shoto and Daito, two Japanese players who also seek the Egg and the Sixers, a corporation of gunters who are run by Sorrento, their CEO who wishes to use the Oasis to exploit the people even more than they are already suffering. As each of the players get closer to the egg through various quests that center around 1980's video games, movies and pop culture, Sorrento and the Sixers follow using tactics of intimidation, bribery and even murder.
Perzival spends a lot of time pining over Art3mis and explaining the ins and outs of Oasis and 80's trivia. The latter could be fun for nostalgia purposes. There are many things about the 80's I am certainly not nostalgic for (Reagan, big hair, leg warmers, douche bags with up-turned collars) but little verses from old PSA's and 8 bit video games do make me smile a little. I won't lie though. There were times when it seemed like the author (Cline) was trying to be too clever for his own good. Too much babble (blah blah War Games, yadda yadda Atari) got tiresome even within the context of the world. Furthermore, if you are unfamiliar with this time period, this book will be lost on you. I was also surprised that of all the 80's movies that were referenced, the most obvious likening, Tron, was totally ignored. Really? Shoto and Daito were so stereotypical of their nationality that at points it felt a bit stif and biggoted. There was also a little too much explanation of the world and not enough "showing". The pseudo romance between Perzival and Art3mis often didn't flow with the urgency of the hunt.
Regardless, the story does pick up between these minor distractions. The view of our world in a not too distant future is as terrifying as it is tangible. By the last third of the book the story moves at a breakneck pace and I couldn't put it down. The bad guys were bad (in a mix of appropriate 80's cartoon manner and modern corporation greed) the world really felt like it was at stake and the fun nods to everything from my childhood were interesting enough to keep myself envisioning everything going as described.
Not an instant classic but a fun read built upon the back of other classics. It will probably make an amusing film as it has been optioned by WB.(less)
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