Tuesday, December 22, 2009

12/21

The Book: The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco

ISBN: 0-15-603037-3

Where: Home

When: 11p-12a

Music:

Company: The Family

Pages: 112-157


The Lead In: This book is dragging a bit. Just being honest there. Eco has a tendency to ramble a bit, which I like at times, but, because he does it constantly, it begins to grate a bit on the nerves.


The 411 on the 55: The focus shifts to the past again. Roberto falls in love with a whore. Well, or so the book hints at. She is, for sure, a peasant and beneath his class. He goes to his friend for help on writing a love letter to her, but he chickens out and doesn't give it to her. His fear of rejection strangles his words in his throat and he moves on, painfully in love. Even worse, he catches the plague and is dragged off to either die or recover in a convent.


And survive he does. The war is ended by a peace treaty and, the end of this story (on the boat), is now in the future.


Line of the Day: "In a brief period of time Roberto lost father, beloved, health, friend, and probably the war." pg 141


Fact on the Fiction: Apparently many people are still interested in siege warfare, medieval style. Medieval

Monday, December 21, 2009

12/20

The Book: The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco

ISBN: 0-15-603037-3

Where: Home

When: 10-10:45p

Music:

Company: The Family

Pages: 56-


The Lead In: It was interesting to discover that Eco is considered a medievalist. The concept seems strange and sort of backwards, being so much of an expert and proponent of the a period often called The Dark Ages. Why would anyone enjoy or appreciate that time period? Sure, from a historical perspective, I can see the validity, but as a practical world view, it seems laughable.


The 411 on the 55: Roberto is convinced there is someone else on his new-found boat, and it might be his dead brother! Well, he admits that is unrealistic, but it keeps coming up in his mind with each bump or creak of the ship. To avoid that thought, he delves back into his memory of the siege of a castle he occupied during his war days.


Early in today's reading, Roberto's father dies crashing into the enemy lines alone. He had felt his family's honor was besmirched and acted accordingly (?). After his death, Roberto finds two friends to cope. One, a soldier, is anti-God, anti-church, anti-romanticism. He is a logical and determined soldier, not swayed by the common motivations of his day. The other is a priest, leading to the obvious clash with the other of Roberto's friends. But even this priest dabbles in philosophy, principally Aristotle.


Line of the Day: "What we honor as prudence in our elders is simply panic in action." pg 83


Fact on the Fiction: Casale, the town that is the center of Roberto's memory, is a real city near Eco's hometown of Alessandria. Wikipedia

Saturday, December 19, 2009

12/19


The Book: The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco

ISBN: 0-15-603037-3

Where: Home

When: 9-10am

Music:

Company: The Family

Pages: 1-55


The Lead In: I earlier read one of Eco's books, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, and enjoyed his style and story. His books certainly have neat covers, which attracts the eye and begs for purchase. Sissy bought me this one as part of our Christmas book exchange. Looking forward to it.



The 411 on the 55: The book opens as an academic narrator discusses the writings of a Roberto Griva from the 1600s. The style is almost that of a lecture or scholarly paper, referring to outside facts and admitting to contextual assumptions being made. It's an interesting approach to a novel.


Regardless of the style, Roberto has been swept from his ship and is lost sea, unable to swim, but tied to a door. He is several days in this condition until one day he bumps into another ship. He climbs aboard to discover food, water, clothing, everything he needs to survive, but the ship is completely empty. He finds the captain's log, but has trouble reading it due to it being written in Flemish. As he lives within the empty ship he explores it and finds plants growing in the hull, birds within cages, apparently this ship was exploring a new land and bringing back samples.


Much of today's reading is also his memories of fighting in battle in Europe between Spain and France. It was here that his ability to see was greatly damaged, causing him to often hide within the ship during daytime, the sun too bright for his weak eyes.


Line of the Day: "But I could say, rather, that while he lived a life of shadows, he recalled a story of violent deeds performed in broad daylight, so that the sun-filled days of the siege, which his memory restored to him, would compensate for this dim roaming." pg 45


Fact on the Fiction: Eco is considered one of the world's leading medievalists. Medievalism is the system of belief and practice characteristic of the middle ages, or devotion to elements of that period, which has been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship and various vehicles of popular culture. Wikipedia

Friday, December 18, 2009

12/18

The Book: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

ISBN: 978-0-7679-1937-1

Where: Home

When: 10p-12a

Music:

Company: The Family

Pages: 112-268


The Lead In: Because of Christmas retail crap at the store, reading has been spotty the last week. Finally, I settled down and hammered out Bryson's memoir.


The 411 on the 55: The rest of the bok was a tour of the 50s. The things that were good and bad are listed and laid out for the reader. Sure there was hope and optimism, but there was also racism, nuclear hysteria, and communist bating. Bryson was fair with both sides of the coin. It's difficult to sum up or even define what the reading was about other than saying it was a bunch of facts, stories and tidbits about the era and Bryson's life.


The 20/20: This book was a fun read for someone like me. I am the type of person who yearns for the past and the way things used to be done. Bryson pulls back the curtains on the 50s in Iowa and allows the reader to go back and grow up again. It's beautiful and flawed. At times, the book reads a little cranky, complaining about "progress" and the changes time has brought to his hometown. Overall, though, the book is like a time capsule that breathes, a trip into the past, a beautiful thing.


Line of the Day: "What a wonderful world it was. We won't see its like again, I'm afraid." pg 268


Fact on the Fiction:

Monday, December 14, 2009

12/13

The Book: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

ISBN: 978-0-7679-1937-1

Where: Home

When: 8-9p

Music:

Company: The Family

Pages: 56-111


The Lead In: There are some who might complain about the rose-colored-glasses approach of Bryson to Iowa, his family, and the 50's. He certainly seems to gloss the negatives and enhance the positives; however, I think he does this with a purpose. The 50's were an era (as he points out in the book) that was thrilled with everything and confident that this era was the best of all possible eras. I think Bryson is channelling that spirit and view on life. It's a thematic approach, a mood setter, and well-done.


The 411 on the 55: I enjoyed today's reading. Especially his description of his trip to Disney Land. I too had a similar experience with my dad and a trip to one of Disney's theme parks. It amazed me. No history, no geology, no mathematics, just fun for kids. It was amazing. I'm sure he was bored as hell.


His family story, covered today, was interesting as well. His parents both being writers for the newspaper. Their mutual passion for words and writing, the dynamic between them, his father's field (sports) contrasted with his mother's (home decor). Good relationships are built in the margins between pages, no matter how diverse the subjects, the pages are still bound together. It's pretty, in a 50's sort of way.


Line of the Day: "I killed morons. I still do." pg 63


Fact on the Fiction: Awesome story: "My greatest moment as a human being was one day I got to sit in the Cubs clubhouse where Ernie Banks was autographing baseballs and I got to hand them to him. He had a box of baseballs he was signing and he obviously didn't need my help but he let me hand him the balls." ESPN

Saturday, December 12, 2009

12/12



12/12

The Book: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

ISBN: 978-0-7679-1937-1

Where: Home

When: 2-3p

Music: Saeglopur by Sigur Ros

Company: Alone

Pages: 1-55


The Lead In: Anyone who has ever asked for a book recommendation from me knows how much I love Bill Bryson and the books he has put out. He is, without a doubt, my favorite non-fiction writer of all time. Fiction is not as easy to choose, if you are wondering, probably put Cormac McCarthy on top for the time being. Anyway, Bryson has written some of my favorite books including his travel classic A Walk in the Woods which most people know him for. This book is the story of his childhood, and I am excited.


The 411 on the 55: Bill Bryson's story begins with his description of his hometown Des Moines, Iowa. I have always struggled with the pronunciation of the name, just because it seems like a ridiculous combination of terms:Iowa and Des Moines. Anyway, the story of baby Billy Bryson begins in the baby boom as so many other kids' did. With the population surge of the post war GI's the country was full of kids.


Bryson discusses his youth with hilarity. One of his stories concerns hitting his head against a wall while playing football. He stands up only to discover his head is showering blood everywhere. He rushes home and his parents try to blot the blood with "dirty towels and red clothes (so they wont stain)". He blacks out and his parents let him sleep for three hours. It's a hoot.


Line of the Day: "Swearing to God was the ultimate act. If you swore to God and it turned out you were wrong, even by accident, even just a little, you still had to go to hell. That was just the rule and God didn't bend that rule for anybody." pg 42


Fact on the Fiction: In 2004, Bryson won the Aventis Prize for his book A Short History of Nearly Everything. wikipedia



Friday, December 11, 2009

12/11

12/11

The Book: Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

ISBN: 978-0-7432-6004-6

Where: Doctor's Office

When: 12-2p

Music:

Company: Angry people

Pages: 125-255


The Lead In: I think the theory of assassination as lionizing its victims is an interesting theory. Lincoln, killed on Good Friday, has benefited (historically anyway) from the reaction to his death. Many people hated his handling of the Civil War, however, his death really brought the world around to his side. It's interesting. We can also thank assassination for giving us President Teddy Roosevelt, just for the record.


Is he smiling at the shooter?


The 411 on the 55: The first section was Lincoln, the second Garfield. She points out how uninteresting Garfield is, condensing his career as a politician to one paragraph. The story she tells of his murderer Charlie Guiteau is way more interesting. Apparently he was an absolute maniac, didn't save him from the noose though.


The last section is on McKinley's death, in comparison to the other two Presidents covered, really got a short shrift. She motors right through his death. Of course, my favorite part is the mention of TR (my favorite president, by far) and some of his crazy-ass exploits. What a man!


Line(s) of the Day: "History is one war after another with a bunch of murders and natural disasters in between." pg 208


"If there is a recurring theme in Garfield's diaries it's this: I'd rather be reading." pg 134


The 20/20: Vowell's work is an impressive amount of history, sandwiched between sarcasm and slapstick. It's infinitely readable and, almost certainly, will lead to more reading of her work. Assassination Vacation is my kind of reading, describing the kind of visits I would make. It's a great read and a fun look at some unfunny events.


Fact on the Fiction: The abridged audiobook for this book has an amazing cast of voices including Conan O'Brien, Stephen King, Jon Stewart, and Dave Eggers. Wikipedia

Thursday, December 10, 2009

12/10


12/10

The Book: Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

ISBN: 978-0-7432-6004-6

Where: Home

When:

Music:

Company: Alone

Pages: 1-124


The Lead In: What has always caught my eye with Vowell's books are the covers. They are interesting looking and I kept picking them up yet never buying them. No longer.



The 411 on the 55: This book is apparently the study of the Presidential assassinations in U.S. history. The book began with a funny take on Lincoln's death and the events that led up to it. What amazing about this book is the ability of Vowell to mix humor with the serious and semi-macabre aspects of Ford's Theatre. She's funny, witty, down-right disrespectful at times, and yet still manages to communicate all the important facts of the event. It's amazing and amusing. More as we go.


Line of the Day: "Somewhere on the road between museum displays of Lincoln's skull fragments and the ceramic tiles on which Garfield was gunned down and McKinley's bloodstained pj's it occurred to me that there is a name for travel embarked upon with the agenda of venerating relics: pilgrimage." pg 9


Fact on the Fiction: Vowell gave her voice to the animated character Violet in the Pixar movie The Incredibles. imdb

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Reading Time Again

If anyone is still reading this...

Reading will recommence tomorrow morn. See you here.

55pages.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Three

9/2

The Book: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

ISBN: 978-1-59448-329-5

Suggested By: Ed Vela

Where: Home

When: 9A

Music: Shuffle

Company: Alone

Pages: 180-235 (55)


The Lead In: I wonder if there is a disconnect between myself and the text due to cultural and racial issues. It’s not that I don’t like the book, I’m just not sure its that great.


The 411 on the 55: Junior’s story continues. Oscar gets the hots for a hot gothic chick, who eventually breaks his heart by nailing some skinny punk guy. Oscar is downcast and unhappy. After Junior decides to move out of the room they share, Oscar commits suicide. Well, attempts to. He lands in a bush and saves his life. After recovering his health and moving back to school, Junior moves back in with him.


The next section focuses on the roots of Oscar and Lola’s family in the D.R. Abelard, the grandfather of Oscar, is a doctor living under Trujillo. He has a beautiful daughter, Jacquelyn (that would make her Oscar and Lola’s aunt?), and is determined to keep her out of Trujillo’s bed. Apparently at this time, Trujillo nailed every hot chick in the D.R. It works for a while, but eventually he is arrested.


Line of the Day: “But you know exactly what kind of world we live in. It ain’t no fucking Middle-earth.” pg 194


Fact on the Fiction: While nationalist Hispanic imagery has had a constraining effect on how Dominicans view the Taíno past, there are also unofficial alternate expressions that resist the dominant discourses. For example, many Dominicans claim that it is bad luck (fuku) to say the name Christopher Columbus aloud and that La Isabella, one of the first Spanish settlements on the north coast of the island, is haunted by Spanish ghosts. These may be considered signs of struggle against dominant history and rejections of official ways of speaking about the legitimated glory of the Spanish past. KACIKE

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Two

9/1

The Book: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

ISBN: 978-1-59448-329-5

Suggested By: Ed Vela

Where: Home

When: 8:30-9P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 124-179 (55)


The Lead In: Reading is never easy, especially when Church decides it is time to jump against my elbow every third sentence. Doesn’t she understand the importance of this task? 55pages a day, damnit!


The 411 on the 55: Ok, not Oscar’s dad. Beli (Oscar’s mom) fell for one of Trujillo’s gangsters. She gets pregnant and is convinced he will marry her. Sadly there is a fly in the ointment, he is already married...to Trujillo’s sister. This does not end well. Beli is beaten so badly by Tujillo’s thugs that she ends up losing the baby and almost her life. But she lives on, and is sent to New York to start over again.


A new chapter, Junior, a friend of Lola’s (Oscar’s sister). He falls for her in college but she is already with someone. So to show his commitment to her, when she leaves for Spain, he volunteers to move into Oscar’s dorm room to keep him company. Once there, he decides to “fix” Oscar’s life by making him jog and work out. This goes well for a short time until Oscar decides he has had enough and tells Junior to back off. Their relationship turns icy and Oscar goes back to being a lazy, anime-watching dork.


Line of the Day: “It was night and the lights of Nueva York were everywhere.” pg 165


Fact on the Fiction: The median age of the Dominican Republic is 24, compared to the U.S. at 36. On a side note, if you have the time, go to the CIA Worldfact book site. Amazing site full of a huge amount of information on every country of the world. CIA

Monday, August 31, 2009

Day One Hundred and Fifty-One

8/31

The Book: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

ISBN: 978-1-59448-329-5

Suggested By: Ed Vela

Where: Home

When: 7-8P

Music: None

Company: Alone, except for Church jumping on the edge of the couch

Pages: 68-123 (55)


The Lead In: Ok, this is turning into a generational tale, which is interesting because I just read 100 Year of Solitude (another generational tale, also by an “ethnic” writer). Not sure what I think about this book now.


The 411 on the 55: I realize that yesterday I used the phrase “sack of crap” twice and to describe two different people. I will attempt to be more eloquent and intelligent in my analysis.


Oscar Wao’s sister is stuck. Ran away from home, she finally breaks down and calls her brother, Oscar, to steal money from their mother and bring it to her. He does, but also brings along her mother. She fights with her mom, but gives in and heads back home. As a way to fix her issues, her mother (who I cannot point out enough, is a horrible horrible parent) ships her to live with her family in the D.R. And she does seem to sort her mind out, coming to grips with who she is.


And now a chapter on Oscar’s mother. She is a really dark girl (skin tone, I mean) and is mocked at the private school that she is sent to. Regardless of the mockery, she is extremely prideful and arrogant. She is very much in love with a boy, Pujols (not Albert, sadly) but he has no time for her. Then over one summer, she gets a big rack (36DDD). Suddenly, he can’t get enough of her. They are caught having sex in the closet of the school. He is sent to military school and she is kicked out. She becomes a waitress and seems to adjust better to life. One night, in a club, she meets Oscar’s dad, one of Trujillo’s cronies.


Line of the Day: “No amount of wishful thinking was changing the cold hard fact that she was a teenage girl live in the Dominican Republic of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, the Dictatingest Dictator who ever Dictated.” pg 80


Fact on the Fiction: Trujillo’s cult of personality in the D.R. “Statues of "El Jefe" were mass produced and erected across the Republic, and bridges and public buildings were named in his honor. The nation's newspapers now had praise for Trujillo as part of the front page, and license plates included the slogan "Viva Trujillo!" An electric sign was erected in Ciudad Trujillo so that "Dios y Trujillo" could be seen at night as well as in the day. Eventually, even churches were required to post the slogan, "Dios en cielo, Trujillo en tierra" (God in Heaven, Trujillo on Earth).” Wikipedia

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Day One Hundred and Fifty

8/30

The Book: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

ISBN: 978-1-59448-329-5

Suggested By: Ed Vela

Where: Home

When: 5-6P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 12-67 (55)


The Lead In: Excited about this book. Ed recommended it with glee. If you know Ed, you know the glee I am talking about.


The 411 on the 55: Oscar Wao is a fat sack of crap. He loves comic books, fantasy novels, D&D, stereotypical nerd. Can’t get with a chick, and when he thinks he is a bout to, he finds out she is back with her old boyfriend who has a large member, so to speak. Oscar is incredibly unhappy with his life. His mother is bossy and doesn’t understand him not being like every other guy. His sister is punky and off to college. At the end of today’s reading, Oscar is off to college where again, he doesn’t fit in.


The second “chapter” of today’s reading tells the story of Oscar’s sister. Her struggles with her mother’s dominating personality lead her to run off and live with a boyfriend. Once there, she realizes he is a sack of crap and is unhappy with her situation as well.


Line of the Day: “Jesus Christ, he whispered. I’m a Morlock.” pg 30


Fact on the Fiction: This book won a Pulitzer. Wikipedia

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Day One Hundred and Forty-Nine

8/29

The Book: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

ISBN: 0-812-55070-6

Suggested By: Audrey Scott

Where: Home

When: 6-630P

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 278-324 (55)


The Lead In: I was poisoned. After finding out some of the less appealing aspects of the author, I didn’t enjoy the book as much. I have to say, the ending was weird....Well, more on that next.


The 411 on the 55: On the asteroid training base, Ender has to play complicated games fighting against his trainer, a veteran of the original bugger wars. With his crew of friends, Ender wins each battle, but is losing his health as the wars continue. Losing sleep, blacking out, losing the desire to eat, finally he is brought in for the last battle. And, oh, you guess it? He wins.


And guess what? It was actually real battles he was fighting, he was commanding ships already at the bugger universe. They are all wiped out, hooray, Ender is the best.


The resolution? Ender’s brother is now running the show on Earth, using his persona, Locke, that he created in writing on the Nets. Valentine bails on him and joins Ender at the asteroid. Because all the buggers are dead, their worlds are available for colonization and humans are rolling out, including Valentine, who talks Ender into it, as well.


Once on the bugger world, Ender is traveling around, discovers a building built out of his memories, by the buggers. There he is greeted with a large bunch of memories not his own. Flooded with memories of the buggers, and given a pupa to protect (to eventually release on a future bugger world), he writes a book about the bugger race. It becomes a religion and influences people all across the universe, the end.


The 20/20: So the book was marginal at best. I didn’t enjoy the ending, I felt that it was a bit underwhelming. It should have ended with Ender killing the buggers. Instead it dragged on for 30 pages of heart-tugging (or at least attempted heart-tugging) about buggers. I would have like the book better had it ended with Ender losing and the buggers ruling Earth. Now that would be a twist!


Line of the Day: “And always Ender carried with hi a dry white cocoon, looking for the world where the hive-queen could awaken and thrive in peace.” pg 324 Cheese.


Fact on the Fiction: You know, you read something like, “Ender’s Game is in the top 100 novels of all-time” and you think “Really?” After going to the link you find it was all voted on by “regular” people rather than experts and Ayn Rand and L Ron Hubbard take up has 7 of the top 10 ten spots. Spare me. Do check out the Board’s list, though. MLA

Day One Hundred and Forty-Eight

8/28

The Book: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

ISBN: 0-812-55070-6

Suggested By: Audrey Scott

Where: Home

When: 10-10:30P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 222-277 (55)


The Lead In: Discovering Card’s faith makes me curious as to what influence it has had on his writing. Check out the Fact on the Fiction for today, excellent quote and link to a great interview.


The 411 on the 55: After the fight, Bonzo is shipped out of school and so is Ender. Ender is returned to Earth with Graff (the commander of the training school). Bonzo, by the way, is dead.


On Earth, Ender curls in on himself, unconcerned with the “game”, unconcerned with life altogether. To fix things, the I.F. brings in Valentine. They have an incredibly long conversation on a raft (which, in my mind, was a tad incestuous, though I bet the people that love this book will be angry for that comment). At the end of the conversation, Ender has had enough, count him in to fight the buggers.


Off to an asteroid he is shipped to be trained by the best. But he needs a crew. Who do they send him, but the kids he has been training with, including his boy, Bean. How sweet.


Line of the Day: “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.” pg 238 Hahahahahaha. Shoot me.


Fact on the Fiction: To quote Mr. Card: "I find the comparison between civil rights based on race and supposed new rights being granted for what amounts to deviant behavior to be really kind of ridiculous. There is no comparison. A black as a person does not by being black harm anyone. Gay rights is a collective delusion that's being attempted. And the idea of 'gay marriage' -- it's hard to find a ridiculous enough comparison. By the way, I'd really hate it if your piece wound up focusing on the old charge that I'm a homophobe." Salon.com


Day One Hundred and Forty-Seven

8/27

The Book: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

ISBN: 0-812-55070-6

Suggested By: Audrey Scott

Where: Home

When: 9-9:45P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 168-221 (55)


The Lead In: I feel that too much is happening in this book. Like the book should be much longer to encompass all the time and events that are unfolding in the book.


The 411 on the 55: So as you might have guessed already, Ender is the most badass commander of all time, he takes his band of nobodies and defeats each team, systematically. The director of the training school begins upping the ante, scheduling matches the next day (typically they were given a week to practice), 7 days in a row, eventually making Ender’s group fight 2 teams at once, in the dark, without prior notice, etc, etc, etc. And yet Ender continues to win. So pissed off are the other boy commanders that they decide to beat Ender.


Well, Bonzo, Ender’s first commander when arriving at the training school, is the leader of the pack of boys who are going to beat him up. And rather than beat him up, he wants to kill him. Right. I felt like that was a stretch. Bonzo is all about pride but, in the end, he is still a 13 year old. They kicked Ender’s brother out of school because he was malicious and mean, wouldn’t they have done the same thing to Bonzo?


Again, predictably, Ender is against long odds, and still wins. He beats the living crap out of Bonzo, including kicking him in the testicles (while they are both naked in a shower)...um, ok.


Line of the Day: “After that, if he had asked them to follow him to the moon without space suits, they would have done it.” pg 186 (ok, maybe worst line of the day. I thought i was incredibly cheesy and badly written)


Fact on the Fiction: (I smell a Mormon) “Orson Scott Card is an award winning science fiction author who grew up in Utah and attended Brigham Young University. There he studied drama, which contributed to his writing of plays. Card had his own theatre company, which was a success for a number of years. He learnt to speak Portuguese as a result of his missionary years in Brazil.” Ender.com

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Day One Hundred and Forty-Six

8/26

The Book: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

ISBN: 0-812-55070-6

Suggested By: Audrey Scott

Where: Home

When: 2-3P

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 112-167 (55)


The Lead In: The book is readable. That is all I will say.


The 411 on the 55: The side story of Peter and Valentine begins to emerge today. Peter has recruited Valentine to help him in an article writing project on-line, meant to change the course of events in the world. Valentine gives in because she is passive, though worried about where it is headed.


Ender is handed his own squad, making him an incredibly young (9) commander of Dragon. His first practice ends with the emergence of another character, Bean, also small and young who is scrappy and very Ender-like.


Line of the Day: “She had thought that only fools would follow him.” pg 138


Fact on the Fiction: Ender’s Game received both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 1985.

Day One Hundred and Forty-Five

8/25

The Book: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

ISBN: 0-812-55070-6

Suggested By: Audrey Scott

Where: Home

When: 9:30-10:15P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 56-111 (55)


The Lead In: This book is science fiction, obviously, but it is also annoying in the way the supposed 6 year olds think and speak. No six year old talks the way Ender does. I guess supporters of Card would argue that Ender is exceptional in every way, But I think that’s still a stretch.


The 411 on the 55: Just as Ender begins to make friends in his unit, he is transferred to another unit, also led by a kid who resents his presence. Of course, Ender betters his commander by disobeying a direct order in mock combat. He fires on the other team at the last moment, turning a loss into a stalemate. Sadly, his commander, sees that as insubordination and eventually transfers him to another squad.


Two things emerge as important from this section of the book. 1, Ender enjoys playing a psychological game. The more he plays, the deeper it ventures into his subconscious, revealing more of him to the generals, who monitor the game. 2, Each commander Ender serves under offers a model to glean from, making Ender better after each experience.


Line of the Day: “As he thought of it, though, he could not imagine what “just living,” might actually be.” pg 74


Fact on the Fiction: Science fiction fans who love videogames, start your rejoicing. Later today, award-winning author Orson Scott Card and Chair Entertainment--the creative team responsible for Advent Rising and Undertow--will officially announce plans to turn Card's beloved novel "Ender's Game" into a, well, game. Newsweek

Day One Hundred and Forty-Four

8/24

The Book: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

ISBN: 0-812-55070-6

Suggested By: Audrey Scott

Where: Home

When: 10-11A

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 1-55 (55)


The Lead In: Science fiction was something I gave up on a long time ago. I judge it very harshly because the author’s can create situations and settings which no other author can duplicate, which I guess might be harder, but to me seems easier. You can operate outside all the rules. Come on.


The 411 on the 55: Ender is the third child in a country that has strict limits on births. He’s an exception to the rule, he’s a third. His older brother, Peter, and his sister, Valentine, each had great potential but failed at the government administered tests for the I.F., a starfleet-type program to protect Earth from aliens (buggers). Ender passed.


He joins the I.F. training school and promptly makes an enemy out of his commander, an older boy with a bad attitude.


Line of the Day: “He was afraid, and fear made him serious.” pg 28


Fact on the Fiction: “There hasn't been any news on the movie recently. However, it has been announced that there will be a comic book based on Ender's Game, published by Marvel comics, that will be released this fall.” Endersgamemovie


Monday, August 24, 2009

Day One Hundred and Forty-Three


8/23

The Book: Wicked by Gregory Maguire

ISBN: 978-0-06-135096-2

Suggested By: Sissy Vaughn

Where: Home

When: 10-11P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 456- 519(63)


The Lead In: Looking at this book, deciding to just smash it out tonight.


The 411 on the 55: So the story ends the way you would expect it to end. Elphaba returns to her castle, awaiting the arrival of Dorothy and her group of travelers. Of course, they arrive, hijinks ensue and the Witch is killed with a flying bucket of water.


The 20/20: When I mentioned I would be reading Wicked, someone said “I can’t wait to see what you think of it!” I’m not sure if they were just looking for me to bash it or love it. So this is what I think of Wicked: the book was an interesting but I’m not crazy about it. It seems to be much ado about nothing. The story is Baum’s and Maguire just gave substance to secondary characters. Is it that groundbreaking? Not to me. It was funny, witty and irreverent, but in this era of cheap plastic throw-away books this doesn't stand out as unique. Maybe that thought was disjointed. I’m trying to say that the Wizard of Oz didn’t need to be retold, it’s a classic for a reason. If you retell the story and flavor it with a bunch of aspects that the original never included, I think you weaken it. Sort of like the Manga Bible. Or Pop-Up Moby-Dick. This modern world cheapens everything, and maybe Baum’s classic would have been better off without a rewriting.


Line of the Day: “The body apologizes to the soul for its errors, and the soul asks forgiveness for squatting in the body without invitation.” pg 514


Fact on the Fiction: Oh yeah, check it out. Manga Bible!



Apparently, the story of Moses. Manga Bible

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Day One Hundred and Forty-Two

8/22

The Book: Wicked by Gregory Maguire

ISBN: 978-0-06-135096-2

Suggested By: Sissy Vaughn

Where: Home

When: 2-3P

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 402-457 (55)


The Lead In: Reading during the day is such a great alternative to trying to read just before bed. My mind is sharper. Too bad the schedule doesn’t always work that way.


The 411 on the 55: Nessarose is ruling Munchkinland well enough, I guess, but Elphaba is fed up with the way Animals (talking animals) are treated. They are being treated as dumb animals rather than sentient beings. Nessa ignores her and Elphaba leaves for her home. Upon arrival she finds the family of her lover gone, captured by an army troop of Oz. She settles in to plan revenge when news arrives that Nessarose has been killed...


By a falling house. From Kansas. With Dorothy and Toto in it.


Elphaba heads back only to discover the ruby slippers that she wanted so badly were given to Dorothy by Glinda. The Wizard of Oz shows up and tries to bargain with Elphaba for her magic book of spells, but she refuses to give it up.


Line of the Day: “And while you wait to learn, the deadly icicle, formed by all opposing forces, falls and drives its cold nail into penetrable flesh.” pg 417


Fact on the Fiction: “The author of numerous books for children, Mr. Maguire is also a contributor to Am I Blue?: Coming Out From the Silence, a collection of short stories for gay and lesbian teenagers” GregoryMaguire.com

Day One Hundred and Forty-One

8/21

The Book: Wicked by Gregory Maguire

ISBN: 978-0-06-135096-2

Suggested By: Sissy Vaughn

Where: Home

When:10-11P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 346-401 (55)


The Lead In: I am not sure what I think of Maguire’s writing style. Sometimes he burdens the story down with too much description. But I will let it play out.


The 411 on the 55: Elphaba’s stay is not going all that well. The family she is living with (her dead lover’s) is extremely judgmental of her, her monkey, and Liir, the boy that lives with her. It reaches a head when Liir is duped into climbing into the well by the oldest son. After several days he is finally discovered and has to be brought back to life. Elphaba seems to wish death on boy who tricked Liir and an icicle hits him in the head and kills him. It’s only implied that Elphaba is responsible.


Elphaba receives a letter from her father and decides to travel to her homeland and visit the family. She has just learned her broom is magical and rides it there. Her armless sister, Nessarose, is the supreme ruler of the land and has declared independence from Oz.


Line of the Day: “She felt like a night angel.” pg 389


Fact on the Fiction: “Gregory Maguire received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University.” Gregorymaguire.com

Friday, August 21, 2009

Day One Hundred and Forty

8/20

The Book: Wicked by Gregory Maguire

ISBN: 978-0-06-135096-2

Suggested By: Sissy Vaughn

Where: Home

When:10-11P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 290-345 (55)


The Lead In: Sleepy, but got it done.


The 411 on the 55: Fireyo is actually killed off and Elphaba travels to his widow’s home to tell her the story of what happened. She will have no part of the story and refuses to listen to her. Stuck and waiting to tell her, Elphaba, her monkey, and a servant boy, move into a tower at the widow’s house.


Line of the Day: “If one could drown in the grass, thought Elphie, it might be the best way to die. pg 302


Fact on the Fiction: Wicked the Musical is an incredibly successful Broadway production. Their website was impressive and they even have a facebook account! Wicked the Musical