Divergent

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth

I picked this book up on the recommendation of a friend who mostly reads nonfiction and doesn't really read fiction nevertheless YA. A lot of my online book-loving friends have read and their reactions have been mixed. Many of them have not quite felt the book and felt it failed where Hunger Games succeeded. While I'm loathe to compare any two books in the same genre because I feel like each book should be judged on its own merits, I am going to have to disagree with my online book friends. Maybe it was the early diet of class dystopians like 1984, A Brave New World and Walden Two (this one is particularly creepy since its penned by non other than B.F. Skinner. If you want a trip to crazy town definitely check it out). The darker and harsher the world, the better it is to me. The dissatisfaction of not being able to overcome the evil over-lords in these books became an undercurrent for how  I judge modern dystopians. I am loathe to like books that don't make it difficult by exposing your O'briens. I wasn't happy with the Hunger Games until I learn district 13 was as fucked up as the President. One bad guy was simply not enough for me. So, while a lot of fans hate mockingjay, I love it for the very reasons they hate it--its dark undertones, the fighting, the rebellion and Gale turning dark. But, back to Divergent. It's like the first half of this book has this dark sort of improbable feel. The idea that you can choose your own faction is very nice, but you quickly learn that initation phase is horrible and if you fail you become part of the legions of have-nots or factionless. Tris inability to fit into one box--her natural divergence--is what makes her so compelling to me. She has an internal strength and she loves her family just as much, but her struggle is about her identity can be what causes her demise. The relationship with four unfurls slowly and is not something she runs from but in an odd way embraces. Neither Four nor Tris are afraid of love, but rather they need as the only good thing in a dark world. It's the darkness and Tris's desire to not show others her weakness and her desire to try to navigate the minefield of her identity that makes her so interesting. Who can she trust? Who knows she is divergent? Are their others like her? What does being divergent really mean and why are people so afraid of them? this book really brings to light the notion of conformity. The factions can be seen as a heightened version of high school cliques. Your losers--dauntless, your shy kids-abgenation, the nerd-erudite, the cool kids who tell it like it is-Candor, and the hippies-Amity all are a part of this landscape. If you take the politics out of the story you have a story of young people trying to figure out where they belong and finding a new home when where they feel they really belong. I am really excited to see where Tris and Four's adventures take them in the next book. It's definitely a must-read whether you like it as much as I did or you think it just isn't worthy of all the hype. My only complaint don't make it a movie. I hate when good books become movies. I like to live in my imagination. I don't want casting to ruin what I picture Tris and Four to look like.

Film Adaptations of Books

It's always a double-edged sword when your favorite book becomes a movie. You want to see it on the big screen, but you fear how much of the original story has been altered. Here are a few of my favorite and least favorite film adaptations of books I've read.

The Good

1. Sense & Sensibility- Ang Lee's version of this classic Jane Austen novel is one of my favorite film adaptations. The scenery is beautiful and exactly how I imagined it. The script didn't stray far from the original and the casting was perfect. Even Hugh Grant was well cast as Edward. The costumes were my favorite part of the film. They managed to capture the whimsy of that time and you felt like the novel had burst to life.

2. Charlotte Gray- While they altered aspects of the original book, I really liked the actors they hired and the cinematography was beautiful.

3. The English Patient- The film version is so starkly different that it works better than the novel ever did. They changed all the right aspects and the acting was spot-on. It's one of those oscar-nominated films I felt was worth all the hype.

The bad

1984- The acting was camping, the story had been cut to shreds that it lost any real sort of meaning and the directing was choppy at best. They should have just left it alone.

A hand-maiden's Tale- The movie was so bad that not even Robert Duvall could save it. 

So many books to read.

Books that I am currently reading:

City of Fallen Angels
Game of Thrones-Book 1
Harry Potter Book 4
Divergent
What about goodbye--Sarah Dessen

Books I want to read once I'm done with those:

DarkFever
Harry Potter Books 5-7

The rest of the Fever series (assuming book 1 is readable

I think my read-box will be so much longer this year primarily due to this blog. 

NaBloPomo entry 3

My literary pet peeve: Abusive relationships that are glorified.

It didn't even register to me when I was younger, but as I've grown older this has become more and more troublesome to me. Who are the worst offenders imo:

1. Tolstoy- Anna Karenina is just rife with the dysfunction. It's hard for me to take the love story seriously because it just made me cringe the majority of the time.

2. Emily Bronte. Wuthering heights is a great example of a bad love story that is glorified to insane proportions. Kathy and Heathcliff are not a great love, they are not even a tortured love. They just don't belong together. They bring out he worst in each other. She's insufferable and He's a brooding asshole that needs to stay away from the female gender. His obsessive personality is also very off-putting.

3. The chick who wrote the Bronze Horsman. As I put in an earlier review, the relationship between Tania and pretty much everyone in her life is toxic and abusive to some extent. The physical violence that Alexander inflicts on her is not romantic. The parental abuse she suffers is not compelling. It's just a horrible message laced in OTT writing.

NaBloPoMo post 2

I wouldn't be a book nerd if I didn't have an entire pile of books in every corner. There are titles that I want to get to and haven't. Titles haven't reread in ages. So, what is my most treasured book or books?

I can't really pick a favorite, but these are well-worn titles that hold a special place in my heart.

1. Charlotte's Web. I have had it for years and kept it so I could read to maya and soon they will be passed on to the boys

2. Mansfield Park- Ahh Fanny Price, how I love thee. I can never seem to get enough of this girl.

3. Jane Eyre- My favorite gothic novel. I've read it more than 10 times and when I'm feeling in the mood I pick it up and re-read. It's especially good on a rainy spring day.

4. Three Cups of Tea-this is pretty much who I want to be. This man learnt so much about being a teacher, being an outsider and learning to respect other cultures

5. No Logo- I have the original copy signed by Naomi Klein whom I met at her at a Book Signing. She's kind of my hipster-activist spirit animal. A girl who believed you can never be too young or too old to fight the Man. The only female journalist allowed into Fallujah and one of a few Jewish journalists respected by Palestinian and other Muslim activists. I can drown on about why I love these titles.

NaBloPoMo Entry 1

On the suggestion of http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/ I am going to participate in NaBloPoMo which is basically posting everyday on your blog. I know I'm kind of slack, but the literary nature of my blog sorta limits me, I'll try my best.

So, today I want to talk about my favorite childhood series: The Hardy Boys.

1. I think I read book 5--the original 1950s-- when I was 8 or 9. I loved the adventure that the boys would have. I am seriously thinking of trying to find the original series for a good reread.

2. Nancy Drew. How can one really be a fan of the Hardy Boys and not like the intrepid Nancy Drew. She was funny and awkward and so fucking annoying. I am convinced Veronica Mars is based on her

3. Sweet Valley High--Ahh Jessica and Elizabeth. Who hasn't read this series? It was so cheesy and full of soapy drama that kids shouldn't be reading this drama. Although, I found Jessica fun, I always felt for Elizabeth. She was my spirit animal for so long.

4. The Encyclopedia Brown Books. Although this wasn't really a series per se, just individual cases starring the same kid, I think it still counts. I just loved it. I blame my addiction to spoilers on these books because I loved the interactive nature of the books and how you got to make choices alongside him.

Gone Girl Done Gone Cray Cray

Gone Girl-Gillian Flynn

This novel was a difficult read because the characters challenge you to like them. I am the type of reader that likes to be able to relate to at least one character in a book. Gone Girl makes this difficult because Amy and Nick are innately unlikable people. The are moments when you feel for the missing girl and other times where you are totally on Nick's side. Flynn's dialogue and writing style manages to make you want to keep reading even if you just want to throw the book in the trash. It's like watching a movie about people you really don't like, but you still can't keep your eyes off the screen. Flynn definitely takes you on a twisted journey into a very disturbed marriage. This novel gives one insight on a relationship between two people who have been putting on faces for each other. Flynn embarks on a discussion of relationships, sexuality and modern gender relations. Are all women merely pretending to be what men desire in order to win over the man they love. What happens when they stop pretending? Can we still be worthy of love. Amy has an extreme reaction to a heart-breaking reality. I'm not going to tell you what that is, but it would give away too much. This novel is like reaching inside the mind of a psychopath and sociopath. Can too crazy people build a life together or should they be together simply to save others from their insanity.

The Amy you are presented with at the beginning of the novel while flawed is still somewhat relatable, but 
as the author peels away her layers and you are introduced to the real Amy  you'll be shocked at who she really is. Nick has moments where you just want to hug him until you realize that he's been lying to the audience much like he lies to everyone in his life. The truth of who he is makes you wonder how anyone is capable of loving this man or if he is even capable of loving himself. Some of the more interesting themes in this novel include the construction of media images. The media plays such a key role in how Nick's image is framed and even makes the reader start to doubt his innocence. The author even pokes fun of Nancy Grace and her rabid desire to go after anyone who looks even remotely guilty. The representation of midnight vigils and the public desire to intrude on the lives of people they cannot truly understand. The author makes you wonder who is really crazy: the potential victim or the potential murderer.

The book is worth reading because it definitely challenges the reader to question how we see the world, 
marriage, the media and crime.