Friday, May 28, 2010

Ender in Exile


Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card's newest addition to the Ender series, claimed to be a direct sequel. I would have to disagree with this claim due to the details given and left out of this book. There were many instances where the impact of his words would have been lost on me had I not read the rest of the series previous to reading this new installment.

It was very well-written, and I was giddy with the number of Shakespearean references and parallels. I had been yearning for this branch of the story to come about. I had always been curious about Ender's life directly after Battle School and the end to the Formic Wars. Despite having this information, however, I still think there's room for another book set directly after this one. I hope Orson Scott Card has another masterpiece in the works.

Ender's time on the ship was very well done, but I would have liked more of his time on Shakespeare to have been fleshed out more. The last part seemed to be over much too quickly. There had to have been more for him to say about that time of Ender's life. Though, I supposed due to his extensive travels throughout his lifetime, a two-year stint on Shakespeare may prove less significant than his other stays on the planets he visits in the other novels.

I am not yet sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing that the storyline that stuck most in my head was the interactions between Alessandra and her mother.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Invisible Man


The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells was just one of those classics I felt I had to read. And I'm glad I did. It had me laughing the whole way! I'm not sure if this was Wells' intention, but that's surely what happened. I just couldn't stop imagining this man running around naked because he'd be seen if he were wearing clothes! I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been for Griffin, the invisible man. He thought up this great idea of how to turn himself invisible, but he can't be invisible completely unless it's a sunny day or pitch dark night....and he's naked.

Aside from the fact you have to live life naked, if you do put clothes on, your face is still not really visible and that's a problem for the average person. So, you're a person stuck between two worlds: never able to fully belong to either (at least not comfortably or without freaking people out).

And if that wasn't enough, he starts to go mad because of this inability to live his life. The rawness of this character opens insight into the psyche of humans. What would any of us have done in the same situation? Unable to show ourselves as we truly are and unable to live a life of secrecy. Running from the world that wants to destroy you because you created something no one else can even imagine. The readers are swept up into a whirlwind of emotions from the side of the invisible man himself and the people affected by his actions. A true tale of what could happen if too much power is put into anyone's hands.

The Lovely Bones

You have to be in the right mood to read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I don't think I was in the right mood going into it, but once you start, it's difficult to put down to try again later. I wouldn't necessarily say you need to read this with a box of tissues next to you, but if you've recently lost a loved one, you probably should keep some Kleenex handy. Also, if you've buried (forgive me) some memories of loved ones that you'd rather not have peck to the surface quite yet, then you're not ready to read this book.

The perspectives shared in this novel are inspiring. As one who has never been sure of the idea of heaven, this book paints a picture of a heaven I can get on board with. Instead of this big white fluffy cloud filled heaven with absolutely everyone who has ever died and made it up there, there's a personal heaven where there are others like you who share the same idea of what their heaven should hold.

Throughout the novel you can literally feel the pain this little girl is in as she's watching her family fall apart below her. It's the story of a journey, difficult to follow and even harder to stay away from, just like the deceased Susie is unable to turn her eyes away from her family and the lives of those connected to her and her death. Imagine knowing your murderer and having to watch your family fall apart from not knowing. The agony is incomprehensible.

The Lovely Bones is a wonderfully well-written story of a little girl who died too young and never got the chance to do all that a girl should. It brilliantly outlines the transition from childhood to the maturity needed to let your family get along without you and the sadness felt at seeing a sister growing up doing things you wish you could do.

As I feel with most books turned to movies, I think it's a shame someone tried to turn this book into a movie. It's too powerful to put in anything other than the words on these pages. Imagination is 1000 times more powerful than anything we can ever put on screen.

The Good Sister

The Good Sister by Diana Diamond was different from any other suspense novel I have ever read (and I have read probably 70% of the Mary Higgins Clark books out there). Keep in mind "different" doesn't necessarily mean better or worse than any other suspense novel. It didn't get my heart racing making me wonder what was going to happen next. It did have me questioning my ability to read the actions and words of the people involved in the novel.

The entire time I agonized over which sister was the "good" sister and which was the psychopath narrating the beginning of each section. There were so many times where I could have sworn I was sure about which sister was the killer, then something would happen that made me question everything I had been thinking previous to that moment.

There were shocks around every corner, but not ones that really make you question the author's decision. Each change made sense to the characters' personalities and quirks. Yes, they were shocks, but not unbelievable ones like you sometimes get. Psychopaths can't act normal all the time. But then again, it's difficult when reading, to see the difference between psychotic and sisterly rivalry. I have sisters who fight more often than not, whether they mean to or not. Neither of them would kill each other like in this story, but their rivalry is fierce and difficult to understand unless you are in their shoes. So, the sisters in the story never seemed too out of line with reality. Until the end when you realize what one of them was thinking the entire time and the things she did throughout her life.

Normally, I don't like stories that go back and forth between a character being the narrator and having an outside narrator, but that was the hook that pulled me through the whole story. I kept reading if only for a glimpse of thought from the crazy sister to see why she was doing the things she did, how she could think the way she did.

Then, of course, there was the HUGE twist at the end that I never would have guessed!