Post #12 Reading Wishlist

Books that I plan to read in the future-



The Stars Wars Trilogy

Agatha Christie Books (Did you know she is the 3rd most sold author of all time? Trailing only the Bible and Shakespheare)

Unfinished Series

Miscellaneous

Book Talk

Book 3 Review

Not all fun and games in Where’d You Go Bernadette

Harry Taylor

            Meet Bernadette: brilliant, eccentric, complex, and as some would argue, clinically insane. Bernadette Fox lives in Seattle with her husband, Elgin, a high-ranking Microsoft superstar, and her daughter Bee, a delicate girl with an IQ off the charts. However, the audience soon discovers that much like Seattle’s weather; life can be very chaotic and gloomy in the world of Bernadette Fox. She is completely fed-up with life in Seattle: the weather, and hustle-and-bustle, the Canadians, the drab hair styles (as Bernadette would say, “They’re only two hair styles in Seattle, short gray hair and long gray hair” (Semple 128)), and most of all, she is fed up with “the gnats”—her neighbors and fellow private school mothers. As the novel continues on, Bernadette continues to crack, bit-by-bit, until full on hilarity (and chaos) ensues. Told through a collection of emails, magazine clippings, bank statements, personal accounts, report cards, and phone conversations, young Bee takes it upon herself to piece together the story of her mother. Bernadette’s past, present, and future are divulged in a quick-paced fashion, leaving behind a touching story of a mother and daughter, and revealing what happens when someone is pushed to their limit. 

                        While reading Where’d You Go Bernadette, an interesting debate was sparked in my mind: Who is the smartest character in the story? Certainly there are several characters that one could make a solid case for; Bernadette is a genius architect and won a MacArthur Genius Grant for “Being green twenty years before being green was cool”, Elgin, who is a high ranking Microsoft employee and developed a technology worthy of the fourth most watched TED talk of all time, and Bee, who gets straight S’s (“Surpassing Excellence!”) in school. For anyone who has read the book, the debate surely is an interesting one, because while each character possesses so many merits, they also possess a myriad of faults. Bernadette offshored most of her life to a virtual assistant, Elgin cheated on his emotionally unstable wife, and Bee failed out of the Choate Boarding School for no apparent reason other than that she wanted to. Regardless of who the reader deems as the most intelligent, it surely says something that Semple inundates her novel with so many brilliant—yet flawed characters. Maybe Semple is attempting to make a statement about equality and self-worth, or maybe she is simply channeling the “dysfunctional family” dynamic she perfected after years on shows such as Arrested Development.

            Another interesting note is the setting of Antarctica in the story. While reading the novel, the reader surely asks themselves “why did Semple choose Antarctica as a setting?” While Antarctica may seem random, it actually makes perfect sense. Bee describes Antarctica as “The highest, windiest, driest, coldest place on Earth” (Semple 230). What better place for an unlikely family reunion? What better place to demonstrate just how far someone (in this case, Bernadette) will go to escape their troubles? Semple finds ways to put meaning even in the smallest of details, one of her novels most entertaining qualities.

            The one flaw in Semple’s otherwise mischievous second novel is the inconsistency in its form. One of the largest selling points of Where’d You Go Bernadette is its incredibly unique formatting. Jonathan Evison, the author of West of Here, called it “Brilliant, hilarious, endlessly inventive, and compulsively readable”. And for much of the novel (about the first ¾) that holds true. The novel is delivered in a light never before seen by many readers –through a collection of reports and articles, to go along with the occasional character-narration. However, towards the end of the novel, this unique formatting tapers off in favor of a more traditional style. Rather than ending the book in her ingenuously playful style, Semple appeared to get cold feet (possibly Antarctic cold? Ha!), and ended the novel largely with a narration by Bee as she and Elgin journeyed to Antarctica in search of Bernadette. It’s likely that Semple, who had only written a single previous novel, lacked the touch and finesse to continue her style throughout. Regardless of this inconsistency, the ending of Where’d You Go Bernadette is still good, but readers can’t help but feel like Semple never quite found its full potential.

            In the end, Where’d You Go Bernadette, is a very good read. It will never end up on a “greatest books” list, but that’s not its purpose. The book is a quick, fun read with a provocative edge, worthy of earning it 7.5 out of 10.

Likability of Pi Patel, from Life of Pi

How likable is the narrator of your book?

The narrator in Life of Pi is a teenage Indian boy by the name of Piscine Molitor Patel, or Pi Patel for short. He is a very likable character because he is very humble and open to ideas, and he shows great enthusiasm to those ideas. In the beginning of the book, he becomes a follower of Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity all simultaneously. Despite that ideological conflict of interest, it made Pi a likable character because he was so nice to all types of people and open to their ideas. Pi is also very likable because he is honest. He leaves out no detail, however crude or demoralizing, of his arduous journey across the Pacific. Most people would be unwilling to express certain truths that would reflect poorly upon themselves, so the fact that Pi does so makes him very likable and expresses his humility. The character of Pi Patel agrees more along the thinking of Jennifer Weiner, because while Life of Pi is still essentially genre fiction, it also contains very powerful literary and moral elements. One of the focuses in the book is the importance and morality of truth, a complex theme that goes beyond the reach of mindless genre fiction. I believe that in a book such as Life of Pi it was incredibly important to have such a likable narrator because for a majority of the story, Pi was the only character that we heard from because he was stranded alone on a lifeboat. Had the audience not liked or been comfortable with Pi’s character, it would have turned people away from the book since he is such a strong focus. In my opinion, the fact that Pi was a likable character not only made the book a more entertaining read, but it also enhanced the literary elements and themes of the book.

Post #8 The Truth of Memoirs

How true does a book have to be in your mind to be considered non-fiction? Why?

In order for a book to be published and considered non-fiction, it needs to be as true as the author can possibly make it. As Seth Greenland said in his video interview, "We (the readers) make room for allowances in non-fiction and memoir writing for the fallibility and the imperfection of memory; however we should not be blatantly lied to." I agree with Mr. Greenland full-heartedly. Non-fiction needs to be true. A memoir should be every bit as true as a biological review of the behavior of lions in the wild (which I don't have any personal experience with).

There is definitely room for creativity in these not-so-true-true-stories; however they shouldn't be branded as absolute truth if they are, in fact, only relatively true. What is wrong with writing a novel and simply calling it "sensationalized nonfiction/memoir"? The author should take a page out in the back to explain that not all events in the book are true, and admit to inflating events of the story for desired effect. Does it still belong in the memoir section? Absolutely. But this way the author would absolve themselves of any guilt, because it would be up to the reader to know the true nature of the story before-hand.

As far as authors who call their story a memoir for publication purposes, I do not blame them in the slightest. An author falsely branding his story to get it published is similar to the minor league baseball player who juices up and smacks a billion homeruns in a season in hopes of getting called up to the big leagues. For this reason, while I don't agree with James Frey's branding of his book A Million Little Pieces, nor do I blame him. He was just doing what he had to do.

Post #7 Silver Linings Playbook Trailer

Blog #6 Readicide

Gallagher's discussion in "Readicide" is very interesting and I believe that he brings up many valid ideas. One of the many questions that arises from his argument is whether or not genre fiction is "less worthy" than Literary Fiction, and therefore whether or not it should play a role in school. In my opinion, looking at things from a purely artistic standpoint, genre is fiction is less worthy in terms of skill and craft. Not to say that genre fiction writers are not talented; Dan Brown, Stephen King, Michael Crichton, etc. are genre writers and are still considered among many to be great. However, genre writing in general is more about storytelling talent than it is about writing talent; an important distinction to note. If schools want to teach their students how to be good writers, how to read and interpret skillful writing, and expose them to skillful writing in a general sense, then Literary Fiction should definitely be the focus.

Gallagher suggested as a possible solution to "Readicide" that schools should teach Literary and Genre Fiction is a 50/50 manner. I believe that Gallagher is correct in suggesting more Genre Fiction in school curriculums; however 50% seems to be heavy-handed. A 2/3 split in favor of Literary Fiction would be better in my mind because it would allow the focus of the learning to still be geared towards the more skilled and intelligent writing, and it would also prevent schools from having to entirely overhaul their current English curriculums. However, schools definitely need to be more inclusive of Genre Writing. As Mr. Coates said in class, can you actually name a school book that would be considered Genre Fiction? Something such as Lord of the Flies or Life of Pi probably could be considered Genre Fiction, although they both still contain many literary merits. The point is that when schools only incorporate the "proper tasting", "Thumbs up from the historians' literature, students are missing out on an entire part of the literary spectrum. By offering both Literary and Genre Fiction, schools can teach the sophisticated writing/reading crafts, but also provide students with the popular culture that is needed to thrive in the modern world.

Post #3

So far Silver Linings Playbook has been a very pleasant surprise. I thought that the book would be incredibly sappy, along the lines of a Nicholas Sparks novel, but so far it has been fun to read. The book's short chapters help to keep the story moving at a fast pace and the book is a quick read as a result. I really like Pat's character because he is dynamic and unpredictable in his actions. We know that he has been mentally damaged by events from his past so it makes his outbursts very surprising and melancholy, but it also makes his moments of happiness and morality really shine. Tiffany is an interesting character as well. We don't know much about her besides that she has psychiatric issues similar to Pat. There is something definitely "off" about her, but that also makes her character fun to read about. The reader can assume from the beginning that she will end up playing a larger role in Pat's life, but this makes her crude behaviors and straightforward attitude before her significance to Pat even more engaging. I'm about halfway though the book right now and I would give it a B rating.

Movie Adaptation of Silver Linings Playbook

The biggest challenge in adapting Silver Linings Playbook into a movie is that the adaptors would have to find a way to create or portray a single/main issue to the audience. The novel is more focused on Pat's day-to-day journeys and experiences after being released from a psychiatric institution, and thus lacks a central element of conflict to focus on (a common theme among most movies). Another challenge that a filmaker wold have in adapting Silver Linings Playbook is that all of the book is told from Pat's point of view, in a very personal and cerebral manner (think a milder form of Holden Caulfield). It might prove very daunting for a filmaker to accurately convey Pat's feelings and inner emotions while still maintaining outside action in the film. In order to make these challenges surmountable, the filmakers would need to take either Nikki (Pat's obsession) or Kenny G (Pat's Arch-Nemisis) and make them more central to the story. In the story both of these characters are intermittenly mentioned, however they are never consistent characters. By making them more consistent, the filmmakers could create a focal point for the audience to get hooked on. Also, be simply adding more dialouge, it would help bring out Pat's internal feeling and relay them to the audience.

One essential scene of Silver Linings Playbook is the dance competition towards the end of the book. Pat and Nikki dance together after countless hours of practice and the dance competition, and the success that comes from it, symbolize their coming together and moving on from their damaged pasts. It also serves as somewhat of a climax to the story (as far as action goes) so it definitely needs to be included.

Another essential scene would be the tailgating incident that occurs at the Giants v. Eagles football game. This is a great scene because it shows Pat in a happy environment, but when trouble is presented, it demonstrates just how much work Pat still needs to do on his road to recovery. The fight between Pat and the Giants fan shows off Pat's phisical strength as well as his vunerability, aspects that make him a dynamic and unique character.

Lastly, another scene that would be essential in a movie adaptation would be the opening scene showing Pat in the psychiatric institution. This is an important moment because it informs the audience that Pat is a damaged person, and is probably off-the-mark in some way. When Pat talks about his obsession with Nikki and his desire to get her back, it introduces the reader to Pat's persona.

When Pat and his brother are tailgating before an Eagles game and the meet up with Cliff's (Pat's Therapist) tailgating group. It is a fun scene and shows Pat bonding with normal people and enjoying himself, however it doesn't do much to advance the story. There are several football game scenes in the novel and this one is probably the least noteworthy, so cutting it may be wise to keep the story focused on more important scenes.

Another section of the book that should be cut would be all of the running and working out that Pat and Tiffany do when they first meet. The meet up together daily and run ten miles without ever saying anything to one another, and then Pat goes home and lifts for hours on his own. This demonstrates a strange bond developing between the two, but it is very repetitive and there are other scenes that could be shown to viewers that are more exciting.