soph (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophia_sol) wrote2012-02-09 10:40 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2012-02-09 10:40 pm
Entry tags:
- anent: asexuality,
- anent: book thoughts 1,
- anent: queer,
- author: adam rex,
- author: ellis peters,
- author: john green,
- author: patricia maclachlan,
- author: sharon bell mathis,
- author: tamora pierce,
- author: terry pratchett,
- book theme: fantasy,
- book theme: history,
- book theme: kidlit,
- book theme: modern earth,
- book theme: mystery,
- book theme: queer,
- book theme: reread,
- book theme: science fiction,
- book theme: secondary world,
- book theme: ya,
- pub date: 1975,
- pub date: 1977,
- pub date: 1985,
- pub date: 1994,
- pub date: 2005,
- pub date: 2007,
- pub date: 2011,
- pub date: 2012,
- rating: ***,
- rating: ****,
- rating: *****
too many books to list in the post title
Moar books! This is a whole bunch at once because my thoughts for these books aren't quite as in-depth as what the other ones inspired.
Snuff, by Terry Pratchett
Unfortunately I have nothing to say about this book! I read it while I was on vacation with my family and so didn't have my computer handy to write down my reactions. I can say: I enjoyed it!
The Will of the Empress, by Tamora Pierce
I quite love this one! It is a reread, but I haven't read it in a LONG time, so it was nice to read it again and remind myself of what actually happens in it. It is good times! It is about the responsibility of being a Good Person, and about the importance of your found family, and both of these are excellent things!
The one thing that made me sad was that it did its best to ruin my headcanon of Tris as aromantic asexual. Throughout all of the previous books, Tris displayed exactly zero interest in sex or romance. But on page 429 (of my edition, at least) of Will of the Empress, Tris is talking about liking boys (and the implication, given the way the conversation goes, is that she wants to kiss them, and usually interest in kissing is shorthand for interest in the whole sexual shebang) and being treated awfully, and how, "After that, I tried not to let boys know when I liked them." Which. SADFACE. Because either this means Tris is straight, or Tris is heteroromantic asexual, and either way, HEADCANON RUINED. Actually, more than that, I actually kind of believed Tris was canonically ace. TAMORA PIERCE WHY MUST YOU BETRAY ME SO.
A Morbid Taste for Bones, by Ellis Peters
Mmm, good book. I love Cadfael so much, and I really enjoy all the stuff in this book about the politics of English vs Welsh, and how Cadfael fits so comfortably into Gwytherin because he is Welsh. Which makes it interesting that Cadfael chose to, well, retire, in a culture not his own! Because he clearly identifies strongly with his Welshness.
The one thing about this book I'm not particularly fond of is how unconcerned they were by Columbanus' death. I mean, yes, it was an accidental killing, but death is serious business! And they're just like OH CRAP ACCIDENT and HOW CAN WE TURN THIS TO OUR BEST ADVANTAGE. I mean, yes, Columbanus was the murderer, so for people who believe in the death penalty he deserved what he got, but -- well, I'm mennonite and I was raised mennonite and killing people (for any reason) is not something I am comfortable with. So this is a YMMV type of problem with this book.
Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan
This is a lovely book! Also total childhood nostalgia. It's interesting though -- now that I am older I am way more fascinated by the character of Sarah, by what must have been a very difficult decision for her, and by the slow and careful and awkward romance between her and Jacob. I really really want to read THAT story! But that one wouldn't be a kid's book. Anyways, it's lovely as it is too, even if the character of Caleb is too simplistic, and even if the chickens do not behave like real chickens. (Mara has experience with chickens. The chickens in this book BOTHER HER.)
The Hundred Penny Box, by Sharon Bell Mathis
This is a book I got given back in, oh, elementary school sometime. Grade 3 maybe? And I read it and was just all ??? about it and put it away for years and would keep coming back to it and not appreciating it because it HAD NO ENDING and it was stupid and went nowhere, but it had won awards and clearly people thought it was great and maybe I'd just been too young before to appreciate it! But I kept on not appreciating it!
Except now I have a grandmother with Alzheimers and understand the difficulties of figuring out how best to deal with dementia type stuff, and so I appreciate it a lot more. The love Michael has for Dew and how he wants to make her happy, wants to do for her the things she wants, but the way Ruth is trying to deal with the very real difficulties of living with Dew and the fact that what Dew wants isn't always what's actually best, and sometimes you have to do things that make her cry. So. Yeah. Dew is not actually a particularly good analogue to my grandmother (who is a very bitter woman and rather hard to love) but the underlying message is the same: THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS. AND THERE IS NO TIDY END.
It's interesting, though, because it is intended as a children's book, and yet I didn't understand/appreciate it till adulthood. I don't quite know what to do with that!
Skylark, by Patricia MacLachlan
This is a sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall, and it is also lovely! Evocative and stark and full of emotion and YES. Although I'm still super curious about Sarah and Jacob more!
The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
DAMN YOU FOR MAKING ME CRY. No but it's a really really good book, funny and tragic by turns (Laughing! Then crying! Then laughing WHILE CRYING! In fact crying for the entire last half-hour of reading the book!), and really well-written, and I can totally still see John Green's love of English class pretention* but it works. Also the title is amazing. I have nothing, like, meaningful or whatever to say about it but...yes. Definitely EXCELLENT.
*It is weird! I come at this book being extremely familiar with John Green from the vlogbrothers videos (and the Miracle of Swindontown videos, and the Crash Course videos, et cetera), so the fact of the author's existence was something I noticed a lot more than in most books, because I kept on seeing things that were just very John Green.
The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex
How to say all the wonderful things about this book? Its use of language is glorious: the ways in which J.Lo mangles English are insidious and strangely lovely and when I finished the book it took me a little while to reroute my brain back to "correct" grammar. Also the characters are wonderful (Tip! J.Lo! The Chief! ALL THE HEARTS). The plot is great. The worldbuilding is beautifully weird and properly alien. The structural conceit is love. And the book does so many clever and thoughtful things amidst all the silly bits, and the combination of it all makes me so happy!
Snuff, by Terry Pratchett
Unfortunately I have nothing to say about this book! I read it while I was on vacation with my family and so didn't have my computer handy to write down my reactions. I can say: I enjoyed it!
The Will of the Empress, by Tamora Pierce
I quite love this one! It is a reread, but I haven't read it in a LONG time, so it was nice to read it again and remind myself of what actually happens in it. It is good times! It is about the responsibility of being a Good Person, and about the importance of your found family, and both of these are excellent things!
The one thing that made me sad was that it did its best to ruin my headcanon of Tris as aromantic asexual. Throughout all of the previous books, Tris displayed exactly zero interest in sex or romance. But on page 429 (of my edition, at least) of Will of the Empress, Tris is talking about liking boys (and the implication, given the way the conversation goes, is that she wants to kiss them, and usually interest in kissing is shorthand for interest in the whole sexual shebang) and being treated awfully, and how, "After that, I tried not to let boys know when I liked them." Which. SADFACE. Because either this means Tris is straight, or Tris is heteroromantic asexual, and either way, HEADCANON RUINED. Actually, more than that, I actually kind of believed Tris was canonically ace. TAMORA PIERCE WHY MUST YOU BETRAY ME SO.
A Morbid Taste for Bones, by Ellis Peters
Mmm, good book. I love Cadfael so much, and I really enjoy all the stuff in this book about the politics of English vs Welsh, and how Cadfael fits so comfortably into Gwytherin because he is Welsh. Which makes it interesting that Cadfael chose to, well, retire, in a culture not his own! Because he clearly identifies strongly with his Welshness.
The one thing about this book I'm not particularly fond of is how unconcerned they were by Columbanus' death. I mean, yes, it was an accidental killing, but death is serious business! And they're just like OH CRAP ACCIDENT and HOW CAN WE TURN THIS TO OUR BEST ADVANTAGE. I mean, yes, Columbanus was the murderer, so for people who believe in the death penalty he deserved what he got, but -- well, I'm mennonite and I was raised mennonite and killing people (for any reason) is not something I am comfortable with. So this is a YMMV type of problem with this book.
Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan
This is a lovely book! Also total childhood nostalgia. It's interesting though -- now that I am older I am way more fascinated by the character of Sarah, by what must have been a very difficult decision for her, and by the slow and careful and awkward romance between her and Jacob. I really really want to read THAT story! But that one wouldn't be a kid's book. Anyways, it's lovely as it is too, even if the character of Caleb is too simplistic, and even if the chickens do not behave like real chickens. (Mara has experience with chickens. The chickens in this book BOTHER HER.)
The Hundred Penny Box, by Sharon Bell Mathis
This is a book I got given back in, oh, elementary school sometime. Grade 3 maybe? And I read it and was just all ??? about it and put it away for years and would keep coming back to it and not appreciating it because it HAD NO ENDING and it was stupid and went nowhere, but it had won awards and clearly people thought it was great and maybe I'd just been too young before to appreciate it! But I kept on not appreciating it!
Except now I have a grandmother with Alzheimers and understand the difficulties of figuring out how best to deal with dementia type stuff, and so I appreciate it a lot more. The love Michael has for Dew and how he wants to make her happy, wants to do for her the things she wants, but the way Ruth is trying to deal with the very real difficulties of living with Dew and the fact that what Dew wants isn't always what's actually best, and sometimes you have to do things that make her cry. So. Yeah. Dew is not actually a particularly good analogue to my grandmother (who is a very bitter woman and rather hard to love) but the underlying message is the same: THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS. AND THERE IS NO TIDY END.
It's interesting, though, because it is intended as a children's book, and yet I didn't understand/appreciate it till adulthood. I don't quite know what to do with that!
Skylark, by Patricia MacLachlan
This is a sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall, and it is also lovely! Evocative and stark and full of emotion and YES. Although I'm still super curious about Sarah and Jacob more!
The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
DAMN YOU FOR MAKING ME CRY. No but it's a really really good book, funny and tragic by turns (Laughing! Then crying! Then laughing WHILE CRYING! In fact crying for the entire last half-hour of reading the book!), and really well-written, and I can totally still see John Green's love of English class pretention* but it works. Also the title is amazing. I have nothing, like, meaningful or whatever to say about it but...yes. Definitely EXCELLENT.
*It is weird! I come at this book being extremely familiar with John Green from the vlogbrothers videos (and the Miracle of Swindontown videos, and the Crash Course videos, et cetera), so the fact of the author's existence was something I noticed a lot more than in most books, because I kept on seeing things that were just very John Green.
The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex
How to say all the wonderful things about this book? Its use of language is glorious: the ways in which J.Lo mangles English are insidious and strangely lovely and when I finished the book it took me a little while to reroute my brain back to "correct" grammar. Also the characters are wonderful (Tip! J.Lo! The Chief! ALL THE HEARTS). The plot is great. The worldbuilding is beautifully weird and properly alien. The structural conceit is love. And the book does so many clever and thoughtful things amidst all the silly bits, and the combination of it all makes me so happy!
no subject
I'm just picturing the Twitter wank that would go down if a fanfic author fucked up their chicken characterization. People would be all like GOD GET A BETA WHO KNOWS HER CHICKENSHIT OR DON'T EVEN BOTHER WRITING IN THE FIRST PLACE, LAZYASS. Doesn't that author even care about canon? Mark that crap as an AU if you can't get your fucking chickens right. CHRIST.
no subject
I bet some industrious fan would even instigate a Chicken Fest in which ONLY PEOPLE WHO GET THEIR CHICKEN FACTS RIGHT may participate. And someone would write a looong essay about how "This isn't ACHSKULLY about chickens at all, this is about RESPECT! Respect for chickens and the people who know them!!1!"
no subject
no subject
no subject
Wrt Tamora Pierce, from what I understand it's a fairly common complaint that Pierce goes to some lengths so ensure that her characters are ALL STRAIGHT ALL THE TIME. It's very sad that your aromantic asexual headcanon got squashed, but apparently it's par for the course? Also, headcanon is totally there to replace actual canon anyway, right!? :oP
And I am very jealous that you are one of the glorious few who have read Smekday. I want to be a cool person who has read Smekday! Someday... \o
no subject
Actually, no, in this self-same book one of the other main characters is revealed to be gay. And in fact earlier characters in the same series are also supposed to be gay, though I never picked up on that one myself! So Pierce is totally down with the non-heteronormative. Which is why it makes me so sad that she doesn't view Tris the same way I do! I mean, yeah, totally, I am keeping my Tris headcanon ALL THE WAY, but I respect Pierce in a lot of ways and it makes me sad that she's not being quite as awesome in this respect as I thought she was.
SOMEDAY YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ SMEKDAY. It is a glorious book! I'd totally loan it to you, if we lived anywhere near each other. Alas.