Book Review: The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman

Why I read it: Because I will read anything written by Neil Gaiman…anything!

Plot: Nobody Owens, a precocious toddler in modern Britain, is adopted by the residents of the graveyard to save him from the man that murdered his family. Growing up among ghosts from all time periods Bod has a series of adventures leading him eventually to the confrontation with the men that want him dead and the much more scary confrontation with growing up.

Style: True to Gaiman fashion the book is delightfully otherworldly, humorous, poignant and slightly macabre. There are many fun turns of phrase and interesting philosophical thoughts peppered throughout. At its heart this is really a children’s story suitable for ages 5 and up.

Thoughts: As previously mentioned I really like Neil Gaiman. So I had high expectations for this book. When in a cemetery I always find myself wondering about each headstone and the story behind it. Gaiman gives these headstones a story and an afterlife. Bod is a fun hero with uncanny abilities that he thinks are normal.

At times the book felt almost like a hodge-podge of separate stories. As we skim through Bod’s life, only touching on his most significant adventures. Obviously this was necessary since the story covers roughly 16 years of time. There are strong coming of age themes and I got choked up at more then one point. In the end it was a pleasure to peer into Bod’s exceptional life and wonder at the possibility.

Quotables:

"It is neither fair nor unfair, Nobody Owens. It simply is."

"Able to slip from shadow to shadow, never seen, never suspected. Free as air, fast as thought, cold as frost, hard as nails, dangerous as, as us."- Pronounced by a ghoul

"Wherever you go, you take yourself with you."

"He could no more hug Silas than he could hold a moonbeam, not because his guardian was insubstantial, but because it would be wrong. There were people you could hug and then there was Silas."

"You're always you, and that don't change, and you're always changing and there's nothing you can do about it."

If you liked... Gaiman’s Stardust or Coraline this is definitely up your ally. Also James and the Giant Peach and The Jungle Book.

Book Review: His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials Trilogy: The Golden Compass/The Subtle Knife/The Amber
Spyglass

Why I Read It: I was about to embark on a 22 hour road trip and my
brother-in-law conveniently had all three books on hand. And of course it
was on the list.

Plot: (From Amazon…getting lazy) "In an epic trilogy, Philip Pullman unlocks
the door to a world parallel to our own, but with a mysterious slant all its
own. Dæmons and winged creatures live side by side with humans, and a
mysterious entity called Dust just might have the power to unite the
universes--if it isn't destroyed first... Join Lyra, Pantalaimon, Will, and
the rest as they embark on the most breathtaking, heartbreaking adventures
of their lives. The fate of the universe is in their hands. The Golden
Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass pit good against evil in a
way no reader will ever forget."

Style: The story is told from multiple points of view but mostly stays
with Lyra and Will. At it’s heart it is an adventure story with some
coming-of-age themes. The action is well written and I had no problem
devouring all three books in a few days.

Thoughts: When the movie “The Golden Compass” came out there was a lot of
discussion about the anti-religious themes of these books. Thus I went into
these books looking for this much touted atheist agenda. The story is not
kind to corrupted organized religion or those who do evil in the name of
God. However I didn’t feel it was attacking my faith in any way.

As an adventure-fantasy story the books work really well. I was disappointed
with the final ending. I felt no closure or any kind of wrap-up of the
overall themes. Well actually I can’t even really pinpoint the overall
themes. There were some very good ideas and thoughts but I must have missed
the follow through because I am not sure what it was all about. Perhaps that
is how the author intended the story to end but it left me more frustrated
then satisfied. I enjoyed reading all three books and recommend them as
light/fun reading. If you are looking for deep philosophical reading I would
go elsewhere.

Quotables:
The Golden Compass
"You speak of destiny," he said, "as if it was fixed. And I ain't sure I like that any more than a war I'm enlisted in without knowing about it. Where's my free will, if you please? "

Amber Spyglass
"Being in love was like China: you knew it was there, and no doubt it was very interesting, and some people went there, but I never would. I'd spend my life without ever going to China, but it wouldn't matter, because there was all the rest of the world to visit."

Recommendation: If you like: Lord of the Rings, the last three Harry Potter
books, Lloyd Alexander

Book Review: Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Why I Read It: Like Blue Sword it was on the Harvard Book List and I purchased it off Amazon.

Plot: Kilgore Trout writes science fiction stories. Other guy reads them…chaos ensuses.

Style: Rambling. No honestly it felt like the entire novel had been written in one sitting. Vonnegut writes like he is explaining the world to an alien which makes for the occasionally interesting idea but mostly it was just distracting. At times Vonnegut will randomly address the reader. Additionally there are cartoon pictures to illustrate points that don't need illustration. For instance one chapter has pictures of a Holiday Inn sign, a do not disturb sign, a sanitary strap (from a hotel toilet) and a lamb.
Thoughts: I was pretty disappointed in this book. I love Vonnegut's short stories and I enjoyed "Slaughterhouse 5". I thought this would be an easy and enjoyable read but I stopped at 27%. The style was too weird and the story was frankly boring. Additionally there were a lot of off-color references to body parts, pornography, and the like. In the end I gave up.

Quotables:
" The gun was loaded and cocked. There were neat little metal packages containing charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulpher only inches from his brains. He had only to trip a lever, and the powder would turn to gas. The gas would blow a chuck of lead down a tube and through Dwayne's brains. "

"Sparky could not wag his tail--because of an automobile accident many years ago, so he had no way of telling other dogs how friendly he was. He had to fight all the time"

"Charm was a scheme for making strangers like and trust a person immediately, no matter what the charmer had in mind. "


Recommendation: Read Slaughterhouse 5, or anything else...

Book Review: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

Compared to “The Next Decade” I devoured this book. I finished it in two days (before I could even finish the blog post about the other). My last post got a bit long so I decided to institute a “format” for these reviews. Hopefully this will make writing them a quicker process.

The Blue Sword

Why I read it: It was on the Harvard 100 list and I bought it for my Kindle before I decided to use my own list.

Plot teaser: Harry is a girl who has just been displaced from her home. The death of her father caused a forced relocation to the outskirts of the Homeland where her brother and kind foster parents take her in. Harry (awful name for a female character) is abruptly whisked away by the “barbarian” King Corlath. Who, on the brink of war with the feared Northlanders, has other plans for her. mHarry with the help of fate and some "magic" becomes the heroine of a nation.

Style: It is mostly 3^rd person limited. Most of the story is told from Harry’s perspective but the author does occasionally switch to Corlath or some of the other minor characters. She has good descriptions but they are not particularly captivating or unique.

Thoughts: Overall I enjoyed the book. It was well paced and believable. The story is tight (if slightly predictable) with a good dose of character growth, kingdoms, magic, and mystery. The problem is that much of the mystery is never revealed and you are left wondering about a lot of things. I found myself continually comparing it to “The Goose Girl” by Shannon Hale. Both heroines are transplanted, both have a special gift, and both have royal romances. However for many reasons I think Hale’s book is far superior. Her Isi is a much more complete and compelling heroine, her writing is beautiful and her characters feel like old friends. As much as I liked this book I don’t understand why it was on the list or why it won so many awards. I can only imagine that being published in 1982 it was unique for its time. Today a strong female heroine fantasy novel is fairly common.

Quotables:

“She had always suffered from a vague restlessness; a longing for adventure that she told herself severely was the result of reading too many novels when she was a small child.”

“Like the grain of sand that gets into an oyster’s shell. What if the grain doesn’t want to become a pearl? Is it ever asked to climb out quietly and take up its old position as a bit of ocean floor?”

Read this if you like: Shannon Hale, Westmark Trilogy, The Hunger Games