Speed Reading The Hunger Games

A few years ago I was handed a copy of the Hunger Games, and out of curiosity for the newest fad I started to read it.  I was so enthralled with the story, and curious as to how Katniss would survive the games, I just couldn't put it down. 

The Hunger Games is a scary look at what could happen if a government has too much control and wants to keep the public under submission through fear.  The residents of Panem- the new nation in North America must submit 2 children between the ages of 12-18 from their region each year to the Hunger Games, a death-match that is televised, and the last child standing is determined the winner.  

(Don't knock me for spoiling the ending, there are three books in the series, do you really think she would kill off her hero in the first book?)

I enjoyed the book so much I tried to borrow the next book from a "friend" on my e-reader, but no one was willing to share.  

Skip forward a few years to last month, when my brother-in-law shared his books with me.  I picked up the second book in the series, and just could not put it down.  There were several nights that I only got a few hours of sleep between the baby getting up early and not being able to put the book down until well after 12.  

I am trying to be patient and wait until this summer to read the last book in the series, but don't know that I can wait that long to hear about what happens next in Panem.  Unlike my loving hubby who thinks it's OK to leave the last book in the series so that the story will last longer, I just have to have the situation resolve.  I mean, how fair is it to the citizens of Panem that I am even making them wait until this summer for their freedom (cause I am pretty sure that is what's going to happen!)

Now listen here Donald Everett, I think you better go help Frodo and all his friends save the world, stop making them sit in limbo, I think several years have been enough.

The Book Nerd and "So Big" by Edna Ferber

So, I come home today, and what do I find to my surprise? The table is packed with books. Lots of books. Someone decided to do a "photo op" on the kitchen table with a bunch of books from her list (Here's a hint: It wasn't Audrey!) Now, before I can get down to business with the hot dog I planned on eating after work today, I have to go put those books away. Great. Happenstance? I don't think so. Let me tell you, people, It ain't easy being married to a book nerd. Sure, I polished one off the other day that was pretty quick, but no sooner did I finish that one, but little miss "read it in one sitting" decides to wipe out another of her books! I may be in over my head here...

About the book, anyway...

Getting a peek into a time period that you didn't live through isn't quite as easy as elementary school text books would like it to seem. Sure, they look at the industrial revolution, and (with regards to the 1920's,) at prohibition, organized crime, immigration, blah, blah, blah. Sure, that stuff's historically relevant, but is that how people really lived? And by people, I mean common schmucks like you and I. Rare is the book (even on the Pulitzer list) that has much to say about everyday folks.

So Big is a great novel that, even when it was published, had a finger on the pulse of what life was really like (albeit in the all-too-common upper echelons of society) in the pre-depression era. As we take the time to think about what's coming next in our own time period, the next big leap, it can't hurt to take a look back at something that today seems as provincial as that moment when humanity realized that the automobile was going to replace the horse-drawn cart soon. Our next big leap could be just as provocative.

Of course, I'd be happy right now with a damn kitchen table that cleared itself so I can eat my hot dog.

Speeding through Half-Broke Horses

I was very impressed with the speed with which Donny read the last book. Honey, I can't recall him ever reading something that fast before.  It must have been a one time thing, whereas I have done it frequently. I must be a much better reader than him. ;)

I just finished Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, reading in only 3 days. (Pre-baby it would have been sun-up to sun-down done in a day, mind you.)

Half-Broke Horses is the story of Jeannette's grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, told from Lily's point of view.  Jeannette told as much of the story as she could with facts, but remembering her grandmother's voice, told it the way she imagined Lily would have told it.  Telling the story from her grandmother's point of view allowed Jeannette to use the same blunt truth that so captivated me as I read The Glass Castle, her own memoir.  If you have read The Glass Castle, I am sure that you will love Half-Broke Horses as well. If you haven't read either one, try them.  They both have earned a place on my top 100 list.

So Big (And by the way...)

Now you listen here, little missy! SOMEONE has plenty more opportunity to do HER reading- In the car, while I"M driving, ... Uh... OTHER times that have now slipped my mind. Yea. That'll show ya. Besides, I'm the one who's trying to do the writing, as well. Very muchly harder, I assure you indeed. :)

Picked up "So Big" the other day, and I've been reading it on some of my breaks at work. So far, it doesn't really stand out as being phenomenal, but it is enjoyable. Sort of gives a glimpse into daily life in the 1920s as well as the late 1800s, when the book is set. By that, I mean that there's one scene in the book that so far is really noteworthy and a little humorous given the morally ambiguous state of things these days. (No, I'm not going to give anything away... You'll see what I mean in a minute.) The main character is a 19-year old schoolteacher who has a "grand adventure" among the Dutch settlers of a small farming community. She gets married with the usual literary pomp and circumstance, but then... The wedding night approaches... (Mind you, this novel reads up to this point like a romance...) And she slips into her (long-sleeved) nightgown... Crawls into his (their) bed... Hears him clomping in from the fields...

And that's it.

They wake up the next morning, and like two paragraphs later, she's pregnant.

Hrmph.

See what I mean about giving something away? There wasn't anything to give away! What the heck? No smooch? No "Good evening wife, 'bow-chicka-bow-wow!' How was YOUR day?"

Nope. I suppose that's 1924 for you. So, digging was in order. OFF TO WIKIPEDIA!!

Did you know that once upon a time, a book was put on trial? (1) Sort of shows the depths of censorship, huh? Oh, well. It's a good book, and I'm enjoying it, even if it is a nearly 100-year old romance with nary a steamy scene in sight. Again I say, Hrmph.





(1)"Fanny Hill", written by John Cleland c. 1760, was judged to be obscene in a proceeding that put the book itself on trial rather than its publisher.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

So the other day I told you about the book Defending Jacob.  It reminds me of a book I picked up at the Borders clearance sale We Need to Talk About Kevin.

This is one of those books that will always haunt me.   We Need to Talk About Kevin is a story from a mother's perspective about her son Kevin.  Eva feels that from an early age Kevin is different, conniving, and manipulative.  The story has a sinister edge to it, as you wait for the other shoe to drop, to find out what makes Kevin tick, what causes him to do the unimaginable at his high school.  Kevin is a fantastically intelligent boy who plotted for months how to carry out his heinous crime. His punishment? (That he planned as well, by the way,) Nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

With all of the school violence going on right now, this book really gets me thinking, not only as a teacher, but as a parent as well.  Where is the line in the sand going to be?   Who is really to blame for children murdering children?  Is it the parents who suspect that their child may be violent who do nothing, or is it actually the child who was born this way as Eva feels Kevin was?  Most likely a combination of both.  What will the answer be?  Armed security guards at each door?  Thats a lot of manpower for a maybe.  Arming the teachers?  Really?  Putting the gun right in the classroom so that the child doesn't have to bring it?  I don't think so.

By the way, even with all of the books I am reading not included on my list, I'm still winning.  He has only read 38% of his list, whereas I have read 48% of mine!  Who is getting spanked now?!?!?!

The Brief, Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao

I had never thought much about the Dominican Republic. I knew a Dominican girl or two back when I worked in Akron, and I always thought they were a little too intense, you know? Like they had a chip on their shoulder that no amount of "killing 'em with kindness" could remove. Turns out they probably had a reason to be that tough.

The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is one of those books that surprised me. It wasn't about what I thought it was going to be about. (To be honest, I thought it was going to be another "gay lit" book until I took in the first chapter. Sorry, but The Hours scarred me.) It had the presence of mind to be entertaining while it was somewhat educational - shining a spotlight on what went down in the DR during the first half of the last century. Not good, and to be honest, Junot Diaz glosses over or doesn't mention some of "El Hefe" Rafael Trujillo's more heinous activities, ostensibly to keep the reader's focus on Oscar and his family.

Although a curious footnote in history, and nothing at all to do with this book, except to display how racially motivated Trujillo was, is that in 1938, he went against the popular grain at the time and accepted up to 100,000 Jewish refugees into the DR, eventually setting aside some 26,000 acres of his property for settlements. Turns out, the Jewish were white enough to accept, but the Haitians who lived next door (and a good number of dark-skinned Dominicans) weren't good enough, and as many as 20,000-30,000 were killed in the "Paisley Massacres" in 1937.

If you ever start to lose faith in the life you lead in the United States, though, (or wherever you might hail from) Take a minute to read about the failed cattle thief. That'll snap you right out of it and get you back to singing "Stars and Stripes Forever" again, that's for sure.

Surprisingly, "Wao" was a quick read for me, briefly dipping into my wife's territory of polishing off a book in three days. (yea. She actually does that a lot.) I just couldn't put it down, and to be honest, I might have been able to digest it in two if I hadn't been finishing up reading "Cell" at the same time. (Another that was practically impossible to put down, thank you, Mr. Stephen King!)

Some of the books on my list have been a bit of a curiosity as to why they ended up getting chosen, but others definitely deserve the honor. Oscar's Brief, Wondrous life is one such story. Great from beginning to end and leaving me feeling a bit more enlightened when I finished, I can honestly say that I loved it, and will look for Junot Diaz's other work. Eventually. Once this list is done, and my wife has been soundly spanked.

 Wait. That sounded bad, didn't it?