Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

 THE FACTS: 

            Title: Looking for Alaska

            Author:  John Green

            Publication Date:  2005

            Pages:  221

            Round of applause:  2006 Printz Award

SUMMARY:

            Looking for Alasksa opens with the narrator, Miles Halter preparing to leave his Florida home for Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama.  When only two people show up to his going away party, Miles isn’t surprised—he’s never had many friends.  That starts to change when he meets his boarding school roommate Chip “the Colonel” Martin—the boy who will ironically dub the stringy Miles “Pudge,” become Mile’s best friend and introduce him to Alaska Young.  “The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young.”  (I’d try to be more original… but the back cover basically sums that part up).  On his first night at Culver Creek, Pudge is kidnapped in the middle of the night by some “weekday warriors” (the rich kids who go home on the weekends), duct taped and thrown in the lake.  After this incident, Pudge is drawn into the Colonel’s friend group even more and becomes an integral part of a prank planning team to get revenge on the weekday warriors.  In the midst of planning and pranking, Pudge falls more and more for Alaska—even as he starts dating a girl named Lara.  It’s hard to summarize the action of this novel without giving anything away… so I’m going to stop… sorry.

E’S 2 CENTS:

            Love and obsession.  Read. It. Now.  I had a really hard time trying to write a summary for this book—And I always think it’s a good sign when I want to talk more about the novel and the characters than recap what happened.  John Green does several things incredibly well.

1.     I wanted to keep reading and reading.  Each chapter is labeled ___days before or ___days after, counting down to and away from one central, life-changing event.  I wanted so badly to know what was going to happen on the day.  I suppose that convention loses some of its appeal after you know what happens (aren’t you glad I didn’t spoil it for you?), but I still things it’s a great way to structure a novel.

2.     The main characters are full, intelligent and compelling.  I wanted to get to know them more.  Pudge was especially interesting to me—an excellent pick for a narrator.  Pudge isn’t a “weekday warrior,” but his family and/or economic problems are limited unlike Colonel and Alaska.  In many ways he brings a neutral lens to the pre-established biases his friends have about Culver Creek.  He is inexperienced with many things (from the social structure of his new school to drinking and smoking) and allows us to explore and experience such things for the first time.  Pudge is also very intelligent, idiosyncratic (he likes to memorize the last words of famous people for one), and observant.  I was engaged in his story and equally frustrated by the elusive Alaska. 

3.     Ambiguity.  One set of last words Pudge remembers is “ I go to seek a great perhaps.”  Pudge cites this as his reason for attending boarding school, but such a search evolves into a much larger presence in the novel.  All the main characters are teetering on the edge of a “great perhaps,” a great cloud of potentiality—of knowing and not knowing—of seeing through glimpses and trying to make sense of shadows.  We, like the characters in the book, can never know exactly what happens in another person’s experience, their private moments, not matter how well we know them.  I’m glad this novel deals with not knowing—and that it ends with hope.  I don’t want to give anything away, but the way the novel deals with uncertainty is truly beautiful. 

Worth a read.  For real.

--E

Review: The Pigman by Paul Zindel

THE FACTS:

Title: The Pigman

            Author:  Paul Zindel

            Publication Date:  1968

            Pages:  149

            Round of applause:  Horn Book Award Honor Book, New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book

SUMMARY:

            The Pigman is narrated by two friends, John and Lorraine, who trade off chapters as the novel progresses.  John and Lorraine, two high school sophomores with less than perfect home lives, vow to report the facts of their experiences with “the Pigman.”  The Pigman is an older gentleman that John and Lorraine randomly prank call one day.  Lonely and eager for continued conversation with the two young adults claiming to work for a charity fund, the Pigman invites John and Lorraine to his house the next day to collect the check.  Lorraine is hesitant about visiting the old man, but inevitably she and John pay him a visit.  The old man’s name is Mr. Pignati and, after he shows John and Lorraine his collection of pigs, the two start referring to him as the Pigman.  The Pigman is old but childlike and eager to please.  He loves spending time and money with John and Lorraine.  Eventually they find themselves spending a part of every day with the Pigman.  One day however, the Pigman’s physical age trumps his youthful sprit; he has a heart attack and is admitted to the hospital.  John and Lorraine are worried about the Pigman, but, when he entrusts them with the keys to his house, childish spirits prove too much for these high schoolers to resist.  They screw up.  Big time.  …you’ll have to read that part…  Even trying to make up for it goes poorly and ends in the Pigman’s death (oh cool it… you know he dies just from reading the back cover).  The only way John and Lorraine can figure to cope with it is to write it down.  Hence… the novel. 

E’s 2 CENTS:

            I enjoy this book, but it generates in me almost the same sense of anxiety that perks up whenever I watch movies like The Hangover or Meet the Parents.  I would never presume to put this seminal YA work in the same category as summer blockbusters, but there is something about the tragically inevitable outcomes of preventable stupidity that make my “future mom” reflexes go berserk.   I suppose I can’t go too far into detail without spoiling the specifics of the characters’ poor decision making, but I should clarify that no matter how annoying I find John and Lorraine’s choices, I do think such choices serve the purposes of the novel.  John and Lorraine try to act older than their maturity can support just as the Pigman tries to act younger than his body can support.  Both have unfortunate—if not tragic—outcomes. 

            The language is a bit dated (this is one of the first YA books….1968), but the themes remain supported.  Personally, I think Zindel’s autobiography The Pigman and Me is a more engaging read—or at any rate enhances one’s understanding of The Pigman.  All in all though, The Pigman is worth a read.

--E 

Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

THE FACTS: 

            Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

            Author:  Mark Haddon

            Publication Date:  2003

            Pages:  226

            Round of applause:  joint winner of the 2004 Boeke Prize.

SUMMARY:

This novel is written from the first person perspective of a math obsessed 15 year-old boy with Autism named Christopher.  He begins his story by declaring that he is writing a murder mystery novel to record his investigation of the mysterious death of Wellington, his neighbor’s dog.  Despite his father’s warnings to not get involved in other people’s business, Christopher begins asking questions and looking for clues to solve the mystery.  Through his investigations, he interacts with people he’s never met (not a small feat for someone on the Autism spectrum), is able to set aside—at least temporarily—some of his aversions (the colors brown and yellow, for example), and actually solves the mystery of Wellington’s death. 

But it doesn’t stop there.

I can’t get into it too much without ruining it for you, but Christopher’s investigation into Wellington’s murder leads him to a much bigger discovery…one that causes him to brave new experiences much bigger than meeting his neighbors for the first time or tolerating brown and yellow.  What is it you ask?  Guess you’ll have to read to find out…

E’s 2 CENTS:

            Okay.  I love this book.  If you’re looking for sweeping, poetic prose you’ll have to take a trip back to the library, but Haddon’s masterful construction of his protagonist’s unique voice is past commendable. Christopher’s specific diagnosis is never directly addressed in the novel, but the dust jacket notes the author’s years of experience working with students with autism.  It’s likely that Christopher has a mild form of Autism such as Asgerger Syndrome, but for those of you whipping out your iPhone for your Wikipedia App, you can cool your jets.  Haddon renders detailed descriptions of various points on the Autism spectrum virtually unnecessary.  This is one thing I really appreciate about Curious Incident:  it doesn’t dwell on the Autism… it doesn’t have to.  The narration is constructed in such a way that the reader knows very early on what would be challenging or easy for Christopher.  The novel isn’t about Autism, it’s a story of a boy making discoveries and growing up told through the lens of Autism.

            Haddon deals with some sophisticated math concepts with comparable dexterity. Christopher—incredibly skilled at math… not so much with interpreting social interaction—throws around some intense mathematical concepts.  I don’t understand them (and check my temperature if I ever claim to!), but I didn’t feel like I had to have a working knowledge of A-Level Maths in order to appreciate Christopher’s love and capacity for the subject.  I appreciate any author that can include abstract theories or complicated equations and still keep me reading.

            I could keep going for a while, but you get the picture.  This is a wonderfully constructed book that grants readers a peek into a very unique perspective.  While it presents this awesome opportunity to “see through another’s eyes,” Curious Incident also tells a pretty good story.  We get to see Christopher grapple with those YA questions—Who am I?  What am I going to do about it?  Where do I belong?—in light of some incidences that are curious indeed.  Endearing and compelling, this novel is definitely worth a read.


--E

Begrudgingly Embracing Young Adult Lit

At the outset of my college course on Young Adult (YA) lit, I have to say I was pretty dubious.  I was one of those kids that ploughed through YA as fast as possible en route to the “greener pastures” of adult fiction.  You might be one of those kids—sorry… young adults—who feels very much the same way.  I mean, who wants to be caught in the baby section of the bookstore when you’re entirely capable of reading novels written for adults?  Trust me… I’ve been there.  For me, reading has always been like breathing:  something I never questioned, something vital to my existence that I simply did.  I set my appetite on the reliable feast of “classics” and never looked back.  While I still adore classic novels and new fiction aimed at adults, my perception of YA lit is beginning to turn around. 

For me, the dissipation of the stigma surrounding YA lit began with exploring how it is really defined.  I used to think that YA lit was merely a collection of books targeted toward teens (and often devoid of any literary merit whatsoever).  While how a book is marketed does play a factor in its status as YA, a publisher’s perspective is only part of the equation.  For me, the key was in starting to think of YA as a genre rather than a target market.  According Patty Campbell, a well-respected critic on and advocate for YA lit, the genre is defined by several things:  1.  A theme centering on becoming an adult and answering the question “Who am I, and what am I going to do about it?”  2.  Central action that is internal, set in “the turbulent psyche of the adolescent mind.”  3.  A perspective (whether first or third) that operates from a limited, adolescent point of view.

Equipped with this set of criteria, I started to let go of my notion that YA was as fickle and culturally disposable as boy bands and snap bracelets.  Sure, one still has to wade through the mindless, mercenary drool of books like the Gossip Girl series, but I’m starting to find that within YA lit there are more than a few literary gems.  (By the way—there’s just as much waste of paper and ink in the adult section…adult fiction just generally isn’t characterized by it).  While the adolescent perspective runs the risk of becoming dated faster, there are still many novels with in the ever growing cannon of YA lit that can and should be considered classics.  When we stop thinking about YA as books written to appeal to teens and start thinking about them as books within their own defined genre, they have a greater opportunity for expanding literary quality and audience appeal (to young adults and adults alike).  It will be my goal in this blog to write about some of my new favorites from this genre.  I wont be afraid to get critical, but I wont include any spoilers either… promise.  I’m sure I’ll throw in comments on other books I’m reading/have read from the classics or adult fiction just to spice it up—but this blog will mostly be about me exploring, for the first time, the growing tracts of YA literature.

--E