There's a certain incomparable joy in anticipating the release date of a novel, particularly a sequel. It's a feeling that my generation - whom I call the "Harry Potter generation" - is well acquainted with. It's a little like being in love, or at least like having an overwhelming crush. Unexpectedly throughout the day the thought will occur to you that this book which you are looking forward to will some day exist in the world and you will get to read it - in much the same way one might thrill at the thought of seeing that dark-haired nail-biting snorts-when-he-laughs boy in geometry again.
The great thing about book crushes is that they end in much less heartbreak. Here are some of my current book crushes:
Rip Tide, the sequel to Kat Falls' Dark Life, is scheduled to be released this August. I picked up Dark Life thinking it would be a fun, easy read, and while it is that, it is also a fantastic work about a dystopian future and the mysterious consequences of our desperation for survival.
Patricia C Wrede's Across the Great Barrier is also coming out this August. It is the sequel to the absolutely fantastic alternate history, fantasy novel The Thirteenth Child. Wrede has always been one of my favorite authors, ever since I read her Enchanted Forest series years ago. It's always awesome to see a new book out by her, and this new series is mind blowing. It has all her usual amazing fantasy elements and superb writing, but with the fresh twist of being set in the American old west.
Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan is also an alternate history story, this time of the steampunk variety, and the final book in the trilogy, Goliath, will be released this September. I cannot praise this series enough, and would recommend it to anyone who geeks out over giant robots and/or has a soft spot for huge genetically-engineered abominations of nature. My anticipation of this book is actually mixed with a fair amount of sorrow to see this series end. So while I'm thrilled by the thought of reading it, I'm also saddened to think that the stories of these characters whom I have become so invested in is drawing to a close.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Pride Month: Thoughts on Gay Literature
I thought Pride Month would be a good opportunity to talk about my love of gay literature. I couldn't say why, exactly, I enjoy gay literature enough that I actively seek it out. Perhaps the explanation is in the fact that I love all forms of love stories, and am fascinated by the particular difficulties that homosexual love must endure. Love overcoming odds is undoubtedly one of the oldest and most pervasive theme in literature and media, and the modern addition of homosexuality has made the subject fresh and relevant. And perhaps that is why gay literature, particularly for young adults, has seen a huge amount of growth in recent years.
And yet despite my interest, I have never been comfortable with the term "gay literature", because it has always sounded to me as though my books are sexually attracted to books of the same gender. If one follows that thought to the next logical conclusion, what if they start breeding?
Come to think of it, maybe that is not such a bad idea. I don't know of any other way to get free books.
Joking aside, it is a good question. What is gay literature? Can all literature that features gay characters be considered gay literature? Harry Potter is not considered gay literature, despite that Dumbledore was rather famously outed several years ago. Are the requirements, then, that the main character must be gay? Or perhaps that homosexuality have a direct effect on the plot and the actions of the characters?
By that reasoning, would books that feature straight characters whose heterosexuality directly effects the plot appropriately be called "straight literature"? If so, than the entire genre of romance would be straight literature, because in my three years of paging I have yet to see a book about a gay couple categorized as romance. Even those romance books featuring biracial couples are shockingly few, and they make a tediously big deal about it. I swear, when Harlequin publishes a gay story, I will start consuming pulp romance.
In the meantime, I will stick with the infinitely more well written books I am already reading. Perhaps the best "gay literature" I have read would be Sarah Winter's Fingersmith, though I hesitate to call it gay literature at all, because the romance is secondary to the intrigue, subterfuge, espionage, and mistaken identity. In fact, I'm not sure I would recommend it anyone looking for gay literature; rather I would recommend it for readers that are attracted to the image of morally questionable characters skulking in the grimy, fog-filled streets of Victorian London.
If you would prefer something more traditional, Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters deals with the issues facing a lesbian couple in high school as they overcome homophobia from their peers and relatives. Also relating to GLBT issues, Peters' Luna portrays the struggles of a transgendered youth from the perspective of her sister, and exceeds Keeping You a Secret in writing quality, in my opinion.
Also one of my new favorites is Maureen Johnson's Bermudez Triangle, though I consider this more a moving story of friendship than romance. And as always, Johnson is an incredibly funny writer.
But if a picture book is what you are looking for, I suggest Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S Brannen. It is exactly what you think it is. A little girl participates in the wedding of her favorite uncle Bobby and Bobby's new husband Jamie. Oh, and they are guinea pigs. So cute!
Happy Pride Month!
And yet despite my interest, I have never been comfortable with the term "gay literature", because it has always sounded to me as though my books are sexually attracted to books of the same gender. If one follows that thought to the next logical conclusion, what if they start breeding?
Come to think of it, maybe that is not such a bad idea. I don't know of any other way to get free books.
Joking aside, it is a good question. What is gay literature? Can all literature that features gay characters be considered gay literature? Harry Potter is not considered gay literature, despite that Dumbledore was rather famously outed several years ago. Are the requirements, then, that the main character must be gay? Or perhaps that homosexuality have a direct effect on the plot and the actions of the characters?
By that reasoning, would books that feature straight characters whose heterosexuality directly effects the plot appropriately be called "straight literature"? If so, than the entire genre of romance would be straight literature, because in my three years of paging I have yet to see a book about a gay couple categorized as romance. Even those romance books featuring biracial couples are shockingly few, and they make a tediously big deal about it. I swear, when Harlequin publishes a gay story, I will start consuming pulp romance.
In the meantime, I will stick with the infinitely more well written books I am already reading. Perhaps the best "gay literature" I have read would be Sarah Winter's Fingersmith, though I hesitate to call it gay literature at all, because the romance is secondary to the intrigue, subterfuge, espionage, and mistaken identity. In fact, I'm not sure I would recommend it anyone looking for gay literature; rather I would recommend it for readers that are attracted to the image of morally questionable characters skulking in the grimy, fog-filled streets of Victorian London.
If you would prefer something more traditional, Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters deals with the issues facing a lesbian couple in high school as they overcome homophobia from their peers and relatives. Also relating to GLBT issues, Peters' Luna portrays the struggles of a transgendered youth from the perspective of her sister, and exceeds Keeping You a Secret in writing quality, in my opinion.
Also one of my new favorites is Maureen Johnson's Bermudez Triangle, though I consider this more a moving story of friendship than romance. And as always, Johnson is an incredibly funny writer.
But if a picture book is what you are looking for, I suggest Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S Brannen. It is exactly what you think it is. A little girl participates in the wedding of her favorite uncle Bobby and Bobby's new husband Jamie. Oh, and they are guinea pigs. So cute!
Happy Pride Month!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Wall Street Journal article "Darkness Too Visible"
The following is a response to an article in the Wall Street Journal that has ignited a fire in the young adult literature community. You can read it here.
There is a lot I don't need to say about this article and the ongoing criticism of YA literature, because the incredible backlash it has garnered is both eloquent and ubiquitous. But there is one point I would like to make: YA literature, like all literature, is a vital reflection of life.
I've always had a problem with the idea of grade school as a preparation for "real life", because that implies that real life does not start until a young person graduates high school. Which is an idea that I'm sure the thousands of students who are bullied, raped, depressed, angry, and dealing with issues such as divorce, drug use, and physical or mental abuse would have some contention with. Real life starts when you exit the womb. And literature, savior of souls, is there to meet you. YA literature portrays "kidnapping and pederasty and incest and brutal beatings" because life contains them. I couldn't disagree more with this quote: "If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of fun-house mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is." Hideously distorted? No. Hideously accurate.
YA lit forty years ago - or what would be now called YA lit, because as the author rightly points out, the genre didn't exist forty years ago - didn't contain the dark images that Gurdon seems to have a problem with. This is not because these issues didn't exist or that it wouldn't have been helpful to bring them to light, it is because no one had done so. Young adults and children at this time, were even then dealing with horror and emotional turmoil, but instead of having an outlet for these problems, they were told to suck it up. Domestic problems were swept under the rug in favor of presenting an "acceptable" facade. How much pain would have been alleviated for the children of this time, had today's YA literature existed? Dark images in YA literature is not a disease, it is a symptom - and a salve - of life.
If Gurdon wants to change the literature that young people are reading, I suggest she change the world, and render these books unnecessary.
There is a lot I don't need to say about this article and the ongoing criticism of YA literature, because the incredible backlash it has garnered is both eloquent and ubiquitous. But there is one point I would like to make: YA literature, like all literature, is a vital reflection of life.
I've always had a problem with the idea of grade school as a preparation for "real life", because that implies that real life does not start until a young person graduates high school. Which is an idea that I'm sure the thousands of students who are bullied, raped, depressed, angry, and dealing with issues such as divorce, drug use, and physical or mental abuse would have some contention with. Real life starts when you exit the womb. And literature, savior of souls, is there to meet you. YA literature portrays "kidnapping and pederasty and incest and brutal beatings" because life contains them. I couldn't disagree more with this quote: "If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of fun-house mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is." Hideously distorted? No. Hideously accurate.
YA lit forty years ago - or what would be now called YA lit, because as the author rightly points out, the genre didn't exist forty years ago - didn't contain the dark images that Gurdon seems to have a problem with. This is not because these issues didn't exist or that it wouldn't have been helpful to bring them to light, it is because no one had done so. Young adults and children at this time, were even then dealing with horror and emotional turmoil, but instead of having an outlet for these problems, they were told to suck it up. Domestic problems were swept under the rug in favor of presenting an "acceptable" facade. How much pain would have been alleviated for the children of this time, had today's YA literature existed? Dark images in YA literature is not a disease, it is a symptom - and a salve - of life.
If Gurdon wants to change the literature that young people are reading, I suggest she change the world, and render these books unnecessary.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
How to Steal DVDs From Your Public Library
Due to the recent bout of thefts at the library of our DVDs - most notably of our Dragonball Z DVDS – I thought my next post should be addressed to those responsible, the thieves who are costing us hundreds of dollars worth of library material. Thus I have created a guide, a step-by-step manual if you will, of How To Steal DVDs From Your Public Library.
Step 1: Download the program DVD Decrypter. It is free - I know that is important to you - and can be found easily through a simple Google search. Installing it is the work of a moment.
Step 2: Go to your local public library. Here you will be checking out two items: a DVD and a book. (Books are those strange rectangular objects you walk past on your way to the DVDs.) If you have trouble with this step, this is how you do it: instead of opening the DVD case and ripping off the RFID tag, and leaving the case and tag strewn about the library for the pages to find later, you take the whole DVD, intact, to the circulation desk, ask to check it out, and hand the DVD and your library card to the clerk attending the desk. As a side note - it is FREE to check out a DVD. I bet you didn't know that.
Step 3: Return to your humble, slimy, guilt-ridden abode.
Step 4: This would normally be the part where I tell you that you should never rip a DVD unless you own the DVD and are intending to make a backup copy, but seeing as this is being addressed to you based on your infamy as a library thief, I believe such a sentiment would have no effect on you. So, start up DVD Decrypter and insert the DVD into your computer.
Step 5: There are three things you need to check before you continue: (a) Make sure you have sufficient free space on your hard drive. (b) "Source" must actually point to the correct DVD drive. (c) And finally, under "Destination" it will say "Please select a folder". Click the icon next to that and choose where you would like your stolen movie to reside. Since movies are made up of several files, it would be advisable to create a new folder per movie to contain them. Might I suggest calling it "too cheap to buy DVDs" or perhaps "Dragonball Douche"
Step 6: Click on the image of the DVD and hard drive. This will start the ripping process. It will take about twenty minutes, but if it for some reason takes longer - if, for instance, you purchased a stolen computer from the back of a truck and it has the speed of a one-legged pony - this is where the book comes in. You can partake of the book while you wait for the DVD to rip. Books can be enjoyed by opening the cover and reading the words therein.
Step 7: You are now the proud owner of completely illegal DVD. Congratulations. Go brag to all your acne-ridden teenage friends.
Step 8: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP! DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Remove the DVD from your computer, insert it back into its case, and return both book and DVD to the library.
The brilliance of this means of thievery is that while you could repeat the process a thousand times, the library - a notoriously underfunded institution - will never lose a cent. Enjoy.
Step 1: Download the program DVD Decrypter. It is free - I know that is important to you - and can be found easily through a simple Google search. Installing it is the work of a moment.
Step 2: Go to your local public library. Here you will be checking out two items: a DVD and a book. (Books are those strange rectangular objects you walk past on your way to the DVDs.) If you have trouble with this step, this is how you do it: instead of opening the DVD case and ripping off the RFID tag, and leaving the case and tag strewn about the library for the pages to find later, you take the whole DVD, intact, to the circulation desk, ask to check it out, and hand the DVD and your library card to the clerk attending the desk. As a side note - it is FREE to check out a DVD. I bet you didn't know that.
Step 3: Return to your humble, slimy, guilt-ridden abode.
Step 4: This would normally be the part where I tell you that you should never rip a DVD unless you own the DVD and are intending to make a backup copy, but seeing as this is being addressed to you based on your infamy as a library thief, I believe such a sentiment would have no effect on you. So, start up DVD Decrypter and insert the DVD into your computer.
Step 5: There are three things you need to check before you continue: (a) Make sure you have sufficient free space on your hard drive. (b) "Source" must actually point to the correct DVD drive. (c) And finally, under "Destination" it will say "Please select a folder". Click the icon next to that and choose where you would like your stolen movie to reside. Since movies are made up of several files, it would be advisable to create a new folder per movie to contain them. Might I suggest calling it "too cheap to buy DVDs" or perhaps "Dragonball Douche"
Step 6: Click on the image of the DVD and hard drive. This will start the ripping process. It will take about twenty minutes, but if it for some reason takes longer - if, for instance, you purchased a stolen computer from the back of a truck and it has the speed of a one-legged pony - this is where the book comes in. You can partake of the book while you wait for the DVD to rip. Books can be enjoyed by opening the cover and reading the words therein.
Step 7: You are now the proud owner of completely illegal DVD. Congratulations. Go brag to all your acne-ridden teenage friends.
Step 8: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP! DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Remove the DVD from your computer, insert it back into its case, and return both book and DVD to the library.
The brilliance of this means of thievery is that while you could repeat the process a thousand times, the library - a notoriously underfunded institution - will never lose a cent. Enjoy.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Beaten by Poetry
Probably my favorite quote regarding poetry is by the poet Muriel Rukeyser, who said, "If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day. For there would be an intolerable hunger."
Nothing expresses the joy of language quite like poetry, and neither does anything tap into the root of emotion with the same tender brutality. One of my favorite forms of poetry is beat poetry, or spoken word poetry. The words themselves are brimming with ecstasy and tragedy, but then to have them screamed in your face by an impassioned wordsmith adds a new dimension of power to them. It makes a chill of recognition run up your spine; a shiver of familiarity, and you think, "Oh yeah, this is why we invented language."
Words may have first been made in order to squabble over the mundane, yes, but once we began to play with those words, to arrange them in new and unexpected ways, I believe our species realized then that this is what it had been missing.
Through my perusal of the internet I have come across several astonishing spoken word performances. Here are three of my favorites:
"Hir" by Alysia Harris and Aysha El Shamayleh
Def Poetry by Rives
"Slip of the Tongue" by Adriel Luis, video directed by Karen Lum
Nothing expresses the joy of language quite like poetry, and neither does anything tap into the root of emotion with the same tender brutality. One of my favorite forms of poetry is beat poetry, or spoken word poetry. The words themselves are brimming with ecstasy and tragedy, but then to have them screamed in your face by an impassioned wordsmith adds a new dimension of power to them. It makes a chill of recognition run up your spine; a shiver of familiarity, and you think, "Oh yeah, this is why we invented language."
Words may have first been made in order to squabble over the mundane, yes, but once we began to play with those words, to arrange them in new and unexpected ways, I believe our species realized then that this is what it had been missing.
Through my perusal of the internet I have come across several astonishing spoken word performances. Here are three of my favorites:
"Hir" by Alysia Harris and Aysha El Shamayleh
Def Poetry by Rives
"Slip of the Tongue" by Adriel Luis, video directed by Karen Lum
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Jonathan Safran Foer to arrive in East Lansing
The city of East Lansing has a program called One Book, One Community which, as far as I know, is a kind of city-wide book club. A single book is selected and for one year events and learning opportunities are centered around it. It is required reading for incoming MSU freshmen. The author makes an appearance for book signings and talks and the like. It's not something I ever paid much attention to.
Until now.
A day or two ago I was idly perusing the paper when my eye was caught by the compelling cover of Jonathan Safran Foer's fantastic book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Since my fandom of Jonathan Safran Foer is beyond measure, logic, or sanity, and his other novel, Everything is Illuminated, is one of my top ten favorite books of all time, I read the attached article.
I learned that Extremely Loud had been selected as this year's One Book. I learned - and my stomach dropped as I read the words - that Jonathan Safran Foer himself would be visiting in August.
All the rest of the day I found myself overcome by a confusing conglomeration of emotions.
To fully appreciate my feelings, one must understand what, exactly, Foer's writing does to me. To say it is a sucker-punch to the gut is a weak metaphor. He shatters me. Breaks me into a million shard-like fragments and then reassembles me, piece by piece, into a different shape, and I don't quite fit into my life anymore. Like a jigsaw puzzle piece that has grown distorted from being dropped in water, and now does not fit in its space. His writing is so raw, so heart-wrenchingly beautiful, that it almost hurts to look at. He turns over and reveals the tender underbelly of humanity that most writers only hint at. And then he tears it open with a blunt scalpel to bare the beating heart within.
Foer writes, in other words, exactly as I only dream of writing.
He is one of those authors - one of many, admittedly - that paradoxically both encourages and discourages my own dream of being a writer. His writing reminds me why I want to write, how I want to affect people with words; and yet at the same time, I feel as though I will never be even half, even a quarter as excellent as him.
His forthcoming arrival in East Lansing fills me with similar paradoxes.
On the one hand, I am excited at the opportunity to meet not only one of my favorite authors, but one of my favorite human beings. So excited, in fact, that I feel as though I may shake out of my skin with nerves. The day cannot come fast enough.
But on the other hand, I have built Foer up in my mind as such a superior soul, and I'm terrified to face him. Am I even worthy to stand before this literary god?
And on the other hand (this is a three-armed dilemma), I will have mere moments to speak to him as he signs his books. How will I impress him with the power his words have over me? How will I appear to him as anything more than just another slobbering fan? Because when I read his books, I feel like more than that. I feel connected with him.
I will be lucky if I am able to choke out words at all, or anything more than, "I love your books." I will be lucky if I do more than stand before him, sobbing like an idiot.
My roommate has reassured me by reminding me that I will have several months to think of something to say to him, but I remain worried. I'm not sure my feelings can be properly expressed in words. Because I'm no Jonathan Safran Foer, literary god.
His talk and book signing are on August 28th. I have 156 days to think of something to say that is brief, poignant, and expresses in even the smallest amount what his writing does to me. It is not enough time.
Until now.
A day or two ago I was idly perusing the paper when my eye was caught by the compelling cover of Jonathan Safran Foer's fantastic book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Since my fandom of Jonathan Safran Foer is beyond measure, logic, or sanity, and his other novel, Everything is Illuminated, is one of my top ten favorite books of all time, I read the attached article.
I learned that Extremely Loud had been selected as this year's One Book. I learned - and my stomach dropped as I read the words - that Jonathan Safran Foer himself would be visiting in August.
All the rest of the day I found myself overcome by a confusing conglomeration of emotions.
To fully appreciate my feelings, one must understand what, exactly, Foer's writing does to me. To say it is a sucker-punch to the gut is a weak metaphor. He shatters me. Breaks me into a million shard-like fragments and then reassembles me, piece by piece, into a different shape, and I don't quite fit into my life anymore. Like a jigsaw puzzle piece that has grown distorted from being dropped in water, and now does not fit in its space. His writing is so raw, so heart-wrenchingly beautiful, that it almost hurts to look at. He turns over and reveals the tender underbelly of humanity that most writers only hint at. And then he tears it open with a blunt scalpel to bare the beating heart within.
Foer writes, in other words, exactly as I only dream of writing.
He is one of those authors - one of many, admittedly - that paradoxically both encourages and discourages my own dream of being a writer. His writing reminds me why I want to write, how I want to affect people with words; and yet at the same time, I feel as though I will never be even half, even a quarter as excellent as him.
His forthcoming arrival in East Lansing fills me with similar paradoxes.
On the one hand, I am excited at the opportunity to meet not only one of my favorite authors, but one of my favorite human beings. So excited, in fact, that I feel as though I may shake out of my skin with nerves. The day cannot come fast enough.
But on the other hand, I have built Foer up in my mind as such a superior soul, and I'm terrified to face him. Am I even worthy to stand before this literary god?
And on the other hand (this is a three-armed dilemma), I will have mere moments to speak to him as he signs his books. How will I impress him with the power his words have over me? How will I appear to him as anything more than just another slobbering fan? Because when I read his books, I feel like more than that. I feel connected with him.
I will be lucky if I am able to choke out words at all, or anything more than, "I love your books." I will be lucky if I do more than stand before him, sobbing like an idiot.
My roommate has reassured me by reminding me that I will have several months to think of something to say to him, but I remain worried. I'm not sure my feelings can be properly expressed in words. Because I'm no Jonathan Safran Foer, literary god.
His talk and book signing are on August 28th. I have 156 days to think of something to say that is brief, poignant, and expresses in even the smallest amount what his writing does to me. It is not enough time.
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