Looking For Alaska by John Green

I (that is, Kat) just finished up reading John Green’s first novel, “Looking for Alaska”. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. It’s not a big book, only about 220 pages (maybe the length of a longer-ish NaNo), but all kinds of powerful things happen within the covers.

The story focuses on Miles (ironically nicknamed Pudge, despite his tall, skinny lankiness), a kid who has zero friends in his Florida hometown but has a great fascination with the dying words of other people. His junior year, he decides to transfer to Culver Creek, the boarding school in Alabama his father attended, supposedly to pursue the meaning of Francois Rabelais’ last words: “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.”

At Culver Creek, he makes friends with a number of other students: Chip, a short stocky kid who goes by the name “The Colonel”; Takumi, a gifted rapper; Lara, a sweet and soft-spoken Romanian girl from his precalc class; and the titular Alaska, an impulsive and reckless (though very clever) girl his age.

Pudge, along with the others, focuses on classes, attends basketball games (despite the fact that the school’s team sucks), and even gets involved with the pranks that Alaska and the Colonel devise. They sneak around campus, avoiding getting caught by the dean of students (nicknamed “The Eagle”) whilst making mischief, and all of them—especially Pudge—grow to enjoy and look forward to the surprisingly interesting Religious Studies course, taught by the ancient Dr. Hyde.

Pudge is always fascinated by the being that is Alaska Young, however. He is enraptured by her—physically, she’s a gorgeous specimen, and mentally, she’s a brilliant girl. She has a passion for reading, for poetry and art. He compares people to rainstorms at one point, and decides that if Alaska were rain, she’d be a hurricane. It only takes a few months for him to fall in love with her.

One thought that Alaska fleetingly mentions is from a line spoken by Simon Bolivar about a great labyrinth. She thought it might be life or death, but she was never sure. Pudge ponders this, but stores it away.

Halfway through the year, tragedy strikes the school. Pudge leans heavily on his friends for support and the question of the labyrinth—what is it and how do we escape it—looms in the front of his mind.

The whole book fascinated me, I won’t lie. I had expected, from some of the hype, that it wouldn’t be as riveting or well-written as it had been made out to be, but it was and I’m glad I gave it a chance.

John Green has truly made me think. Not just about what will happen when I die, but about interpersonal connections I have with other human beings (do they really know me? Do I really know them?), about the concept of enlightenment (a Buddhist belief that I’m absolutely fascinated by), the words I will leave this world with as a parting reminder that I existed (and as a writer, I’m enraptured by anything word-related), but most importantly, how will I escape my own personal labyrinth?

This book is absolutely fantastic. I loved it from page one until the end and when I finally closed it I felt a little shocked, like I had been cut off (though from what, I’m not entirely sure).

PROS:
-well-written characters
-feminist main character (awww yeaaa!)
-mostly realistic portrayal of personal relationships between high school students
-friendships
-seriously, like, these characters are tighter than a fat guy in spandex
-makes the reader think about concepts larger than their own lives
-a tiny glimpse at Buddhist beliefs (which are, in fact, very interesting)
-the whole concept of a labyrinth (although that kinda goes with “big concepts”…)
-Takumi’s fox hat
-Maxx/Dr. William Morse

CONS:
-explicit sexual content
-underage substance abuse
-hazing/socially unacceptable peer interactions (so bullying, pretty much)
-porn
-language
-death
-the amount of ease with which this particular group of friends gets away with making mischief feels unrealistic…

Ender's Game Movie

They've finally done it: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/12/21/harrison-ford-abigail-breslin-enders-game/


I must say, I'm excited.  I've enjoyed the work of the cast and production team before, so this should be an enjoyable adaptation, at the very least.  

Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Long time, no reviews!  Ah, well.  I've started multiple books but haven't finished very many.  That's what holidays are for: catching up on reading!


It seems as if everyone is reading Kathryn Stockett's The Help.  I've seen it advertised everywhere; it's in bookstores and superstores all over the country; NPR claims it's the best book of its kind since To Kill a Mockingbird.  Released in 2009, the book shot to the top of the New York Times best sellers list.  A movie adaptation with Emma Stone followed soon after.
Is this simple story about three southern women and their controversial book really all it's being touted as?  Will it be required freshman reading twenty years from now?
I think the answer is 'yes'.  As long as Stockett pulls through a recent law suit , this book will continue to be read for years to come.
Stockett is a talented writer.  Her villains have their good sides; her heroes have dark moments.  Just like To Kill A Mockingbird, the narrative is beautifully while unflinchingly honest and occasionally quite funny.  It presents all of life, not just the nice parts.
While the Civil Rights era isn't over written, readers are often shown stories from the same perspective, but Stockett takes us in a different direction.  In The Help, two out of three view point characters are black maids.  Instead of just reading a book about one of America's turbulent periods, we're shown what it might have been like to write such a book.  The Help defies boundaries and shows readers a different side of a little-explored story.
I'm not suggesting this book is perfect.  The one white POV character, Skeeter, came to 'enlightenment' too quickly.  Likewise, while the black maids' speech is peppered heavily with slang, the white characters almost never use southern vernacular.  All of the problems seem small, though, relative to the powerful characters and the story that they tell.  Recommended.

Pros:
*Well-written
*Good characters
*Engaging, unique story
*Actually deserving of it's NYT Bestseller title

Cons:
*Language
*Sexual material
*Other dramatic/thematic material that's not appropriate for young readers
*Skeeter's aforementioned character development issue
*Aforementioned dialogue issue

Book Review: Goliath

Following the adventures recorded in Leviathan and Behemoth, Goliath takes readers on a round-the-world adventure heavy with giant bears, dangerous inventors, and romantic tension.  For fans of the first two books, Goliath is a satisfying conclusion to a unique steam-punk trilogy.
Westerfeld takes loose ends and ties them up nicely in this 500+ page book.  Although I'll attempt to not give too much away, Goliath is heavy on the romance and relationships.  (When one of the love interests has been dressed as a boy for the last two books, there's a bit of catching up to do.)  Westerfeld mixes sweet moments in with plenty of political intrigue.  Fictional characters are mixed with alternate interpretations of historical facts; through these pages we meet William Randolph Hearst and watch The Perils of Pauline.  Keith Thompson's drawings add to the mood of the book and catch the characters perfectly.
Neither I nor Westerfeld have to convince past fans to read Goliath, but I would recommend that new persons interested in the series start with Leviathan, as most of Goliath's power comes from relational and political tension built up in the first two books.  The ending is bitter-sweet and satisfying, gently closing the door on the series.  Fans with withdraws can look forward to an upcoming guide to the universe, set to be published in August 2012.


Pros:
All the pros from the earlier books, plus...
*More historical characters/happenings!  Yay!
*A trip to America
*Incredibly sweet scenes
*Clean prose
*All the back knowledge you need without copious info-dumps
*Heroics
*Very perspicacious lorises

Cons:
*A little mild swearing
*Some violence
*Some creepy pictures (although if you're young enough to be scared of the pictures, you probably shouldn't be reading this book anyway)
*Dialogue occasionally sounds stilted/unrealistic

Guest Review: Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones

"Chapter 6, In Which Howl Expresses Himself with Green Slime": This was one of the most interesting chapter titles that I ran across while lying in bed deeply engrossed in the novel Howl's Moving Castle. Earlier that night, my sister had slapped a book in front of me and said, "Read this." Having nothing else to do, I decided to give it a try. This book is now one of my favorites ever, and Dianna Wynne Jones is one of my favorite authors. Moving Castle is written so that it draws you in and keeps you reading. Some books do this through action, but Howl's Moving Castle does it through insane characters, plot twists, and humor. In no other book have I encountered an old lady who is actually a young lady living in the same house as an evil wizard who actually isn’t evil and, well, I had probably stop there. Overall, "Howl's Moving Castle Was" was a delightfully fantastic read that has earned a place in my heart.~Ethan Reeves

Pros:

*Engaging writing style

*Madcap plot

*Humor

*Unforgettable characters

Cons:

*Occasional mild swearing

*Ending feels slightly rushed (but you don't really care, because...oh, just read it!)

Editor's Note: Howl's Moving Castle is one of three books that form a loose trilogy.  The other books are Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways.  Jones has written many, many other books though, and they come highly recommended.  Howl's Moving Castle was made into a (very different but also quite wonderful) movie by Hayao Miyazaki.

Review written by Ethan Reeves, with supplementary material and editing by Renee Reeves

Book News for Late August, 2011

1) Westerfeldian updates
Head over to http://scottwesterfeld.com/ to see Scott's tour schedule.  Also check out the fan art posted under the schedule (you might recognize someone).

2) The Hunger Games 
View pictures and cast list (and other goodies) here.

3) Other books-to-movies
Coming soon to theaters, Hollywood adaptations of:  Anna Karenina; The Monster of Florence; The Hobbit; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; City of Bones; The Maze Runner; On the Road; The Lorax; The Great Gatsby; The Alchemist; A Wrinkle in Time.

4) More reviews coming soon!

Top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Pics (According to NPR)

If it's published on NPR, it's official.  The top 100 speculative fiction books ever, as determined by 60,000 NPR listeners, are listed at this link.  With trepidation, we shall look to the list and attempt to analyze and fill the holes in our education.
Predictably, the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy tops the list.  In second is a polar opposite to Tolkein's master piece: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  Sprinkled through the list are true genre classics (1984, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Frankenstein) alongside a hefty dose of novels recently adapted to the big screen (Stardust, The Road, I Am Legend, The Time Traveler's Wife).  Given NPR's knowledgeable  and generally grounded audience, none of that is much of a surprise.
It was to my geeky glee, then, that I discovered personal favorites such as I, Robot and The Princess Bride listed in the top twenty.  The beautifully written but little known (and overtly Christian) Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis landed squarely at the bottom of the list.
On the recommendations of readers all over the US, I've added a few titles to my own literary bucket list, including The Eyre Affair, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and Neverwhere.
Agree or disagree with the pics?  Comment away.