Reading Roundup: December 21
I didn't feel like any of my thoughts on these warranted a full post, so here's a reading roundup of four books I read in the past couple of weeks or so.
Maribel Rivera hasn't been the same since the accident in her small hometown in Mexico. So her parents find her dad a job in the States, and travel on a visa so that Maribel can attend a school that is able to accommodate her new special needs. Maribel is beautiful, but nobody seems to really see her until Mayor. Unfortunately, one misfortune after another leads down a road from which there is no return. It isn't a happy ending, but it is a hopeful one, and it addresses immigration in a starkly real way for a novel.
This book was the basis for a movie, as well as (some argue) the inspiration for The Hunger Games. In a fictional future, a class of ninth graders, 21 girls and 21 boys, are dropped on an island and instructed to kill each other, and that there can be only one survivor. Main character Shuya teams up with Noriko and Shogo to attempt to game the system and survive. But it's not easy, even though he was sure that nobody in their class would go along with killing each other.
I can definitely see the comparison to The Hunger Games, though I do think that Battle Royale is actually a better book for me. One thing that was different in this book, compared to The Hunger Games, was that at the end of every chapter (and they were pretty short chapters, which I like) there was a note that said how many students were still alive. So every time I started a chapter, I just wanted to skip to the end so I could come to terms with how many students died during the chapter. Like The Hunger Games, zones were gradually removed from play, and players were instructed that if they tried to escape they would be killed. I did think it was an interesting psychological look, and again different from The Hunger Games, that all of the participants were the same age and knew each other before they were asked to kill each other.
It was a bit annoying that every girl seemed to have been secretly in love with Shuya. Like, what? Why? But in many ways, it was a non-put-down-able page turner.
If you have never experienced the sensation of your naked labia rubbing up against freshly washed denim as you manoeuvre through a subway car with broken air conditioning, you have had more than your fair share of luck in this life. (50)
That's just one of my favourite quotes from this book. The writing is super accessible, which makes sense because it's a contemporary set of essays about Scaachi Koul's life. Also, I love the cover design. It's intensely relatable, and also shares some more nuanced and unique experiences as a Canadian daughter of Indian immigrants. In that way, her stories compare to those of Mindy Kaling in her books.
This is another good quote: And while Canada purports to be multicultural, Toronto in particular, a place where everyone is holding hands and cops are handing out ice cream cones instead of, say, shooting black men, our inability to talk about race and its complexities actually means our racism is arguably more insidious. We rarely acknowledge it, and when we do, we're punished, as if we're speaking badly of an elderly relative who can't help but make fun of the Irish. The white majority doesn't like being reminded that the cultural landscape is still flawed, still broken, and while my entry into something like Canadian media, for instance, hasn't been an easy ride, it has been made more palatable for other people because I am passable. I'm not white, no, but I'm just close enough that I could be, and just far enough that you know I'm not. I can check off a diversity box for you and I don't make you nervous—at least not on the surface. I'm the whole package! (72-73)
Anyway, it's a quick read and definitely worth reading.
I don't love the recent trend (resurgence?) of books, usually with young adult protagonists, that feature a mentally ill young girl who is "saved" by love. Mental illness can't be cured, and it especially can't be cured by love, as sweet as that sentiment is. BUT, with that said, I actually really loved this one. I thought it was sweet, it was an interesting conceit, I thought that it was clear that Jonah wasn't trying to change Esther but more make her realize that her life doesn't have to be controlled by her fears.
I also think that the typical myth in these stories where a person can be saved by love was tempered by the very clear counter of her brother's suicidal ideation. (Spoiler alert: I became a straight up sobbing mess when he died. Like, straight up, panic attack-y, couldn't read for a good five minutes because I couldn't see bawling. And then I had another one of these when I finally turned the page and saw what had happened after that.) Even after all of that, it's clear that he's not fixed; in fact, he's not fixable. And that's an important juxtaposition to have made. The story shows a family, and individuals who make up a family, as extremely flawed and broken people who have to determine whether they are able to be mended, or whether there is no return for them.
It's definitely got a happy, cheesy ending, but not without some realism.
The Book of Unknown Americans—Cristina Henriquez
Maribel Rivera hasn't been the same since the accident in her small hometown in Mexico. So her parents find her dad a job in the States, and travel on a visa so that Maribel can attend a school that is able to accommodate her new special needs. Maribel is beautiful, but nobody seems to really see her until Mayor. Unfortunately, one misfortune after another leads down a road from which there is no return. It isn't a happy ending, but it is a hopeful one, and it addresses immigration in a starkly real way for a novel.
Battle Royale—Koushun Takami
This book was the basis for a movie, as well as (some argue) the inspiration for The Hunger Games. In a fictional future, a class of ninth graders, 21 girls and 21 boys, are dropped on an island and instructed to kill each other, and that there can be only one survivor. Main character Shuya teams up with Noriko and Shogo to attempt to game the system and survive. But it's not easy, even though he was sure that nobody in their class would go along with killing each other.
I can definitely see the comparison to The Hunger Games, though I do think that Battle Royale is actually a better book for me. One thing that was different in this book, compared to The Hunger Games, was that at the end of every chapter (and they were pretty short chapters, which I like) there was a note that said how many students were still alive. So every time I started a chapter, I just wanted to skip to the end so I could come to terms with how many students died during the chapter. Like The Hunger Games, zones were gradually removed from play, and players were instructed that if they tried to escape they would be killed. I did think it was an interesting psychological look, and again different from The Hunger Games, that all of the participants were the same age and knew each other before they were asked to kill each other.
It was a bit annoying that every girl seemed to have been secretly in love with Shuya. Like, what? Why? But in many ways, it was a non-put-down-able page turner.
One Day We'll Be Dead and None of This Will Matter—Scaachi Koul
That's just one of my favourite quotes from this book. The writing is super accessible, which makes sense because it's a contemporary set of essays about Scaachi Koul's life. Also, I love the cover design. It's intensely relatable, and also shares some more nuanced and unique experiences as a Canadian daughter of Indian immigrants. In that way, her stories compare to those of Mindy Kaling in her books.
This is another good quote: And while Canada purports to be multicultural, Toronto in particular, a place where everyone is holding hands and cops are handing out ice cream cones instead of, say, shooting black men, our inability to talk about race and its complexities actually means our racism is arguably more insidious. We rarely acknowledge it, and when we do, we're punished, as if we're speaking badly of an elderly relative who can't help but make fun of the Irish. The white majority doesn't like being reminded that the cultural landscape is still flawed, still broken, and while my entry into something like Canadian media, for instance, hasn't been an easy ride, it has been made more palatable for other people because I am passable. I'm not white, no, but I'm just close enough that I could be, and just far enough that you know I'm not. I can check off a diversity box for you and I don't make you nervous—at least not on the surface. I'm the whole package! (72-73)
Anyway, it's a quick read and definitely worth reading.
A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares—Krystal Sutherland
I don't love the recent trend (resurgence?) of books, usually with young adult protagonists, that feature a mentally ill young girl who is "saved" by love. Mental illness can't be cured, and it especially can't be cured by love, as sweet as that sentiment is. BUT, with that said, I actually really loved this one. I thought it was sweet, it was an interesting conceit, I thought that it was clear that Jonah wasn't trying to change Esther but more make her realize that her life doesn't have to be controlled by her fears.
I also think that the typical myth in these stories where a person can be saved by love was tempered by the very clear counter of her brother's suicidal ideation. (Spoiler alert: I became a straight up sobbing mess when he died. Like, straight up, panic attack-y, couldn't read for a good five minutes because I couldn't see bawling. And then I had another one of these when I finally turned the page and saw what had happened after that.) Even after all of that, it's clear that he's not fixed; in fact, he's not fixable. And that's an important juxtaposition to have made. The story shows a family, and individuals who make up a family, as extremely flawed and broken people who have to determine whether they are able to be mended, or whether there is no return for them.
It's definitely got a happy, cheesy ending, but not without some realism.
Comments
Post a Comment