Christmas in Mexico: pt 3 of 5

book: number9dream
author: David Mitchell
where: by the pool (still bragging)
who: Borrowed (by dad from the library)

This was my favourite book I read this trip (actually this whole vacation). Cloud atlas may be technically more impressive, but this story was unbelievable.  I felt annoyed every time my stomach rumbled, because it meant I had to actually put this book down and focus on something else.  It was the kind of book you didn't want to end ever.  It was just so engaging and wonderfully written i never wanted this book to end but at the same time you can't wait to see how Mitchell is going to wrap all this up.
The basic premise is a young man trying to find his father, but where this journey takes him is unbelievable and unexpected.  Eiji (the protagonist) manages to get into serious (and sometimes hilarious) hijinks.  What impresses me most about mitchell is his ability to use literary devices I previously found trite, but he makes them work.  In this case, he creates dream sequences and alternate imaginings of situations (poor phrasing, sorry about that) something that, up until now, I had a tendency to dislike (dream sequences less so. they work more frequently).  I think i just might like everything that Mitchell does.
I feel like i don't even have that much to say about this book because I just loved it.

xoxo

ellebee

Christmas in Mexico pt 2 of 5

book: Cloud Atlas
author: David Mitchell
where: on the beach (bragging)
how: borrowed (dad)

I really love to go to the movies (this is important to a post about books).  I also, as much as I love watching trailers, I also like going into movies relatively blind.  However, this means I go see some real stinkers.  Cloud Atlas was one of those movies that made me happy to go to the movies again.   It restored my faith in movie making.  So naturally I had to read the book.
Mitchell may be one of my favourite new authors (well, the year is brand new, but lets just go with it).  His talent with language is just astounding.  I ended up reading two Mitchell books while I was in Mexico (see part 3) and what that man can do with english is unreal.  Cloud Atlas is such a striking example, as every character has a totally different language and rhythm.  It really is a book that feels like six different authors wrote it.
I feel like, in a way, that Cloud Atlas shouldn't work.  whenever I describe to someone how all the characters are actually linked, despite being from different eras, and all of the stories echo each other thematically, I can see disbelief crossing people faces.  We've all read these type of stories before, and the multiple narrative rarely works.  Often, its just too difficult for authors to create a voice other than their own and all the characters end up sounding the same.  Mitchell not only pulls it off, but pulls it off brilliantly.  He essentially creates a new language in his super future stories, and manages to connect the stories just enough that we feel the pull, but not so that we feel we're being bashed about the head with symbolism.
if you can get a copy, read it.  and go see the movie.  right now.

xoxo
ellebee

Christmas in Mexico pt 1 of 5

Over the school break, my family took a wonderful trip to sunny Mexico, where I did nothing except relax on a day bed, read books and drink Mai Tais.  This bought of inactivity meant I managed to finish 5 books while I was there and figured that was the perfect excuse to breathe some life into this old blog and remember why I love writing about books.  So, here goes.

book: Bring Up the Bodies
author: Hilary Mantel
how: borrowed (mum)
when: on the plane, while my glands felt like they were exploding and I actually started praying to any and every deity i could think of in hopes that someone was listening and the pain would go away.


I was really looking forward to this book, as its predecessor was one of my favourite books from last year.  I love historical fiction, but frequently they deteriorate into bodice rippers (see anything written by Phillipa Greggory) which are great when thats what you want, but most of the time I would rather read something properly researched that really pulls me into the time and I forget that I know whats coming next.  This is where I feel Mantel really shines as an author.  She manages to create this crushing sense of inevitability.  The whole time you're just waiting for the axe to drop and it just wont until the bitter end.
What I missed in this book was having a real foil for Cromwell.  Thomas Moore was such an amazing opposing factor in Cromwell's life.  The Boleyns work as a group, but they are more an obstacle as opposed to a true foil.  They are something for Cromwell to get around, or manipulate and they never seem to pose a true threat.
What I do feel Mantel really does capture is what a terrifying place Court was to be.  Every person there is more than willing to step over (or on) you to get a head, all favour is temporary and fleeting.  The King is a petulant child who demands that all things go his way and everyone at court listens to this guy and gives him what they want.
All in all, I preferred Wolf Hall to this book.  I feel like the story was stronger, but Mantel's language is so beautiful that I was completely absorbed either way.

xoxo
ellebee

Baby's First Apocalypse

title: The Hunger Games Trilogy
author: suzanne Collins
method: borrowed (various sources)

I love apocalyptic/dystopian literature.  i love the idea that maybe this could happen to us in a few hundred years if we don't change our ways, or even if we had gone down a different path we may have ended up with authoritarian leadership, or living in the woods fending for ourselves.  Also since i work at a school and spend most of my time surrounded by 9 year olds i wanted to read what they were all excited about, so the hunger games quickly made it to the top of my must read list.
first let me say that these books are totally enjoyable.  they take about an evening to read, and the whole time you will be wrapped up in them.  i don't believe that they are something to be dismissed as young adult literature, and if you like dystopian lit, its a great example of beginners dystopia. however, all of the issues i had with are the things that make the book a young adult, and not an adult book.
What i loved the most about this book was Katniss.  she's strong, a feminist and an excellent literary roll model.  i feel too many young adult books feature sissy wishy washy girls as the protagonist who can't make a decision based on their own opinion, they just follow the men in their lives.  katniss is the opposite.  she works with what she has and does everything she can to stay in control of her own situation.  the sacrifices she makes are all to better her family.  now, she is also selfish and self centred (more so in the later books) but these flaws make her interesting.
the books do have a darker progression, and the more we learn about the world the more we realize that these people are not simply oppressed but controlled minutely.  everything they see every scrap of news they hear is controlled by the capitol.  at the end of the first book, some of the people i talked to agreed that they wanted what i wanted, which was to feel more for the other children taking part in the hunger games.  each of the other tributes are almost dismissed (minus Rue) as people we know nothing about or psychopaths trained from birth.  however collins relieves herself of this duty in the beginning when katniss vows to not mingle with the other tributes.  however, if we had a sense of where these other children were coming from and how they felt, i think there are moments in the book that would have been more powerful.
i found the love triangle unnecessary as well, but it's teen lit, and you need some romance. i mainly didn't really like it because i didn't see why Gale would a) fall in love with katniss or b) think to mention it.  I only say this because Gale is so strong on his own and has so much to worry about with his family and working in the mines and it would be nice just once for childhood friends to not fall in love when they hit puberty.  just once? can we have a platonic male female relationship? any ways.... Katniss herself is so focused on her own family and the fact that she never wants to bring children into the messed up world of the districts that she doesn't particularly care, but that means neither do we.
i'm still glad i read it, and there were moments in the third book that really got to me (in that good way), and when you meet the other past victors from the hunger games, things get a lot more interesting because you see what happens to people when how they win fame is killing other people in a world wide spectacle broadcast and are then treated as celebrities.
love always,
ellebee

The Kings Good servant, but Gods first- sir Thomas Moore

Book: Wolf Hall
Author: Hilary Mandell
method: borrowed (dad)

Now, I love historical fiction. It may be one of my favorite genres, because I like when things are based in reality, but not a literal depiction of reality. I first heard of this book at a dinner party where I was one of the few people there who hadn't read it, and it was raved about. My dad even said he read it twice, which is rare for my dad (unless it's a Pynchon novel) so I had a feeling it was going to be book of the year quality stuff.
This is definitely a big book. it's a heavy presence in your bag, even in paper back. It also isn't the kind of book where you can read it while reading another novel. It requires full commitment, because the way Mandell rights, Cromwell is often only refered to as Him in the narration, so you have to be on top of who is saying what and who is in the room with Cromwell.
I can see why Cromwell would be an interesting character to write about, because he is truly fascinating. During this period in history, your beliefs were often something that kept you alive and were incredibly important. Cromwell only believes in surviving, and surviving any way possible. This was also a time when the position you were born in was the position where you stayed, but Cromwell, born a blacksmiths son rose up to be the king's Cheif advisor, and he seems to have done so by always knowing who to talk to and what people wanted to hear.
Throughout the novel, there is a beautiful duality between Cromwell and Thomas Moore. Moore is so steadfast in his beliefs throughout his whole life. Everything he does he does out of devotion to what he believes (and. Oddly enough in my opinion comes out looking the bigger scum bag.) whereas Cromwell only believes in survival. The relationship between these two characters was my favorite part of this book, because they are such polar opposites.
Anne Boleyn is much more fascinating a woman through Mandell's eyes than any other interpretation I've read before. She is cool and calculating, but never described as being overly beautiful or charming. She is a woman carved of marble, and reminds me of the grandmother or Henry, Margret Beaufort. She was another woman who had one goal and did not rest until she had achieved it. She had the same sense of drive, but the same problems, being a woman in a time where a woman had little to no power. E two women also used the only means available to them to achieve their goals

xo- ellebee

Almost as good as new York review of books personals

Book: squirrel seeks chipmunk
Author: David sedaris
Method: gift (mum)

David Sedaris is a wonderfully confusing human. He is such an interesting and bizarre character, and his stories always reflect his borderline insanity. My parents got me this book at a Sedaris book reading and signing. They said that he was so awesome, because he would actually talk to every person, and signs every book you brought if you brought books from home. My books autograph says 'dear Lindsay, your mother and I have a special relationship' which just tickles me every time I see it.
I don't know why I thought that these stories, or fables would be light hearted, seeing as they were written by David freaking Sedaris, but live and learn. I was a little taken aback by how dark they were. Sedaris sits with Dahl in the camp of authors with a very grim very of humanity. The animals in these stories are often Selfish or cold hearted or mean creatures. They aren't very forgiving, or likable, and some of the stories are down right depressing.
Just like any collection of short stories there are highs and lows, but each of these stories are interesting in their own right. There are a few that are very light hearted and interesting, and a few that are very disturbing. For example, the story about the bear whose mother died and whose laziness and felling sorry for herself ends with her ending up in the worst possible place for a bear to be. Sounds cryptic I know, but I'm always afraid of giving stuff away...
I feel that this book is exactly the kind of thing you want in your bag to read snippets of on your lunch break, or waiting for the bus. If you read it all in one go, it can be a bit of a downer, but spaced out the stories are witty clever and heartbreaking.


xo- ellebee

Love.

Book: Annabel
Author: Kathleen Winter
Method: gift (mum and dad)

My mum has this impeccable knack of picking books based on reviews and gut feelings. Both she and my father seem to have this talent. Maybe it comes from years of collecting, or maybe it's some 6th sense. This was a birthday present from the two of them, but I didn't get to read it right after my birthday because it is impossible to leave my parents house with just one book.
This book was a really beautiful story about the simplicity and the complications of love between a child and a parent, especially a child who is different. It is one of those novels that manages to deal with a very difficult and confusing subject in a way that makes the story both believable and moving.
The couple in the novel is born with a hermaphrodite baby in a very small hunting community on the east coast of Canada. The parents then make the decision to permanently alter their baby to always be a little boy on the outside. Over the years, this decision becomes more and more complicated as the boy, Wayne, reaches puberty and as he grows up and moves away from his parents. Because the book is based in such a small community, we don't just follow Wayne's progress, but one of his childhood friends and her struggle to overcome her own physical limitations.
This book really has a great view of the difficulties in being different, and how it is so difficult and so easy to just love people for the way they are.

xo- ellebee