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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Milo J. Wright: Dreaming the Impossible Dream (With a Giveaway!)
(Image from Barnes & Noble)If you're the kind of person who can't watch a movie or read a book without complaining, "That so wouldn't happen," or "That's so unrealistic," then you're not going to like Freshman for President by Ally Condie. Because, let's face it, the plot requires a little - maybe a lot - of that good ole' willing-suspension-of-disbelief thing. If you can accept the highly improbable, then I think you'll enjoy this sweet novel about following your dreams, no matter how impossible they seem.
The freshman in question here is Milo J. Wright, a "sideliner" extraordinaire. He's one of those guys who's on the soccer team, but never starts; is liked, but isn't wildly popular; does well in school, but will never be valedictorian. In other words, he's a pretty average 15-year-old. Except, he's got plans to push himself into the limelight - he's going to run for class president. So, when school elections get cancelled unexpectedly, he's devastated. Now, how is he going to lose his "sideliner" status?
Fortunately for Milo, his best friend happens to be a genius. Eden James knows exactly how to get him noticed - she's got a brilliant plan to get him elected president. Not just class president, mind you, but President of the United States of America. So, okay, there are a few flaws in her idea - (1) The president has to be 35 years old; (2) Successful campaigns cost more than Milo makes mowing lawns; and (3) Who's going to take a teenage candidate seriously? Even if they find solutions to those issues (and they do), Milo still has to deal with school, Pee Wee soccer, girls, and his sister, who seems to have changed into a different person overnight. Despite all this, Milo is committed to his goal. Not only is he going to make a name for himself, but he's also going to make sure teenagers get a voice in the election. Even if he can't win for real (since he's too young to take office), he can sure as heck try. With a little help from his friends, he may even make a difference in the world. In the process, he'll learn a great deal about friendship, determination, and what it means to reach for an impossible dream.
We've already determined that the plot of this book is a little far-fetched. Still, it's a simple, positive story about teenagers working toward an honorable goal. In a YA market saturated with black-cloaked, doom-and-gloom novels, Freshman for President glows with positive energy. Not only is it a clean read, but it's upbeat and inspiring. I'll take that over vampire-hunting any day. Sure, the book could use some work - characters could be fleshed out, Milo could have more compelling motives, the kids could speak less like 7th graders and more like high schoolers - but really, it's refreshing in its simplicity. Condie picked the perfect election year to publish this book; U.S. citizens just elected a man of color to the presidency, clearly anything can happen. A teenager running for president? Maybe it's not such a long shot after all.
Grade: B+
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If you want your own copy of Freshman for President, all you have to do is answer this just-for-fun-question: How would America change if a teenager did become president? I will draw 1 winner on February 28. Good luck!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Matrimony Satisfies ... With A Little Time and Patience
It's not going to surprise you to learn that Joshua Henkin's Matrimony is about marriage (the 
title kind of gives it away), but it's really about one marriage. It concerns the relationship between two average people - Julian Wainwright and Mia Mendelsohn. It's about the things that bring them together, the things that tear them apart, and those every day annoyances that "a person learned to love" (282). It touches on grief, infidelity, sacrifice, fear - but mostly it's about holding on and enduring the lows to reach the highs that are a part of every marriage.
The story begins in 1986, when Julian starts his freshman year at Graymont College in Massachusetts. With plenty of family money shoring up his bank account, he's not worried about finding a career path to wealth - he simply wants to write. Praise from his curmudgeonly writing professor shows he has promise, although he lacks the natural ability of his classmate, Carter Heinz. Although Carter is pretty much Julian's opposite - he's a penniless Californian who "wore a look of aloofness and superiority, which attracted Julian, who was hoping to appear aloof and superior himself" (11) - the two become fast friends. Julian is envious of Carter's skill; Carter resents Julian's privileged East Coast upbringing; but the two manage to get along. Enter Mia Mendelsohn, a pretty coed from Montreal. Julian falls hard while Carter woos high-class Pilar - the four hang out, skinnydipping in the hot tub, smoking weed, and getting through school.
Propelled by a family tragedy, Julian and Mia tie the knot after dating for several years. As Mia pursues a graduate degree, and Julian continues to hack away at his novel, the couple move from college town to college town. Their lives are happy, although filled with the usual challenges and frustrations. About halfway through the novel, Julian hears a startling confession that forces him to move out, abandoning Mia and their marriage. Although the two reunite, it doesn't happen overnight or without some bumpy years. Even with their relationship back on track, though, life treats the couple roughly - Julian's still trying to prove himself as a writer; Mia's frantic about her health; and everyone around them has their own difficulties. The book does end on a hopeful note, implying that matrimony, in all its grime and glory, is still worth the effort.
Matrimony struck several chords with me, allowing me to connect with the book in a way I don't know if I would have otherwise. For one, I felt a kinship with Julian - he's a nice guy who finds his soulmate during his happy college years, making him forever nostalgic about good ole Graymont. I look similarly on my own student days, which brought good times (not of the pot and skinnydipping variety, but still ...) and a happy marriage. I also felt for Julian as a writer, one who never feels quite worthy or successful. If I hadn't formed such a connection with him, I don't know how compelling I would have found this novel. It's well-written, to be sure, but its prose and plot are decidedly languid. Although one reviewer described it as "truly an up-all-night read," (The Washington Post), I found it lacked the kind of pacing that made me want to devour it in one sitting. Not that that's a bad thing - this story is more of the slow, savory type - but not all readers are going to be willing to stick around and savor. For those who value character over plot, Matrimony should please. Characters rule here, and they are complex, fascinating beings, the real driving force behind the story. I did find the cast to be rather a depressing lot, not people I would seek out IRL, but that doesn't mean their stories aren't compelling. In general, I prefer more upbeat, less depressing novels, so this one falls into the like-but-not-love category. It is well-written and I recommend Matrimony for those readers who would rather savor a story than scarf one down without bothering to taste it. It's a novel that satisfies, but requires a little time and patience - not unlike marriage itself.
Grade: B
Saturday, February 14, 2009
My Very First Guest Post: A Conversation With Joshua Henkin
Chances are, you've heard the name Joshua Henkin. You know, the one who's been promoting the heck out of his book Matrimony. He's also been vocal about the importance of book clubs, keeping the book industry alive, and the power of book bloggers. The man obviously loves books and writing - watch out, his enthusiasm is contagious!I've never had an author guest post before, so I'm excited to have Josh chat with us today. If his words sound familiar, you probably read them when he originally posted at Books on the Brain. I'm "reprinting" the post here with his permission. I think he makes some interesting observations about book clubs, especially in the 8th paragraph. What do you think?
P.S. If you haven't snagged a copy of Matrimony yet, leave a comment on this post for your chance to win. I'll choose a winner on February 28. Even if you already have the book, I'd love to know your thoughts about what Josh has to say.
P.S.S. Stay tuned for my review of Matrimony, which will be up tomorrow. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!
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These days, when my four-year-old daughter sees me putting on my coat, she says, “Daddy, are you going to a book group or just a reading?” My daughter doesn’t really know what a book group is, but in that phrase “just a reading” she has clearly absorbed my own attitude, which is that, given the choice between giving a public reading and visiting a book group, I would, without hesitation, choose the latter.
I say this as someone who has never been in a book group (I’m a novelist and a professor of fiction writing, so my life is a book group), and also as someone who, when my new novel MATRIMONY was published last October, never would have imagined that, seven months later, I’d have participated in approximately forty book group discussions (some in person, some by phone, some on-line), with fifteen more scheduled in the months ahead. And this is while MATRIMONY is still in hardback. With the paperback due out at the end of August, my life might very well become a book group.
Part of this is due to the fact that my novel is particularly suited to book groups. MATRIMONY is about a marriage (several marriages, really), and it takes on issues of infidelity, career choice, sickness and health, wealth and class, among other things. There is, in other words, a good deal of material for discussion, which is why my publisher, Pantheon/Vintage, has published a reading groups guide and why MATRIMONY has been marketed to book groups.
But I am really part of a broader phenomenon, which is that, as The New York Times noted a few months ago, publishers—and authors—are beginning to recognize the incredible clout of book groups. I recently was told that an estimated five million people are members of book groups, and even if that estimate is high, there’s no doubt that book groups have the power to increase a novel’s sales, often exponentially. I’m talking not just about Oprah’s book group, but about the web of book groups arrayed across the country that communicate with one another by word of mouth, often without even realizing it.
I make no bones about this: I participate in book group discussions of MATRIMONY in order to sell more copies of my book. But there’s a paradox here. On several occasions, I’ve driven over four hours round-trip to join a book group discussion of MATRIMONY. You add enough of these trips together and it’s not surprising that my next novel, which was due at the publisher last month, is nowhere near complete. I have spent the last year publicizing MATRIMONY as a way of furthering my writing life (writers need to sell books in order to survive), and yet what I love to do most—write—has had to be placed on hold.
I say this without a trace of resentment. I lead a charmed life. I get to write novels and have other people read them, and if I, like most writers, need to do more than was once required of us to ensure that people read our books—if writers now are more like musicians—then so be it. And in the process, thanks to book groups, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting far more readers than I could have imagined and have learned a lot more than I expected.
So I want to speak up on behalf of book groups, and to offer a few cautions, and a few hopes. First the good news. From coast to coast and in between, I’ve found a huge number of careful readers from all ages and backgrounds who have noticed things about my novel that I myself hadn’t noticed, who have asked me questions that challenge me, and who have helped me think about my novel (and the next novel I’m working on) in ways that are immensely helpful. I’ve certainly learned more from book groups than from the critics, not because book group members are smarter than the critics (though often they are!), but because there’s more time for sustained discussion with a book group, and because for many people the kind of reading they do for a book group marks a significant departure from the rest of their lives, and so they bring to the enterprise a great degree of passion.
Speaking of passion: I don’t want to give away what happens in MATRIMONY, but something takes place toward the middle of the book that has, to my surprise and pleasure, spawned shouting matches in a number of book groups. I haven’t been one of the shouters, mind you, but I’ve been struck by the fact that MATRIMONY has proven sufficiently controversial to make readers exercised. I’ve been trying to determine patterns. Sometimes the divisions have been drawn along age lines; other times along lines of gender—on those few occasions when there is another man in the room besides myself! Which leads me to my hopes, and my cautions. First, where are all the men? True, my novel is called MATRIMONY, but men get married too, at more or less the same rate as women do. Yet my experience has been that women read fiction and men read biographies of civil war heroes. And women join book groups and men don’t. Yet those few co-ed book groups I’ve attended have been among the most interesting. And if, as seems to be the case, book groups have led to an increase in reading in a culture that otherwise is reading less and less, it would be nice to see more men get in on the act.
Second, if I were allowed to redirect book group discussions, I would urge the following. Less discussion about which characters are likable (think of all the great literature populated by unlikable characters. Flannery O’Connor’s stories. The novels of Martin Amis. Lolita.), less of a wish for happy endings (Nothing is more depressing than a happy ending that feels tacked on, and there can be great comfort in literature that doesn’t admit to easy solutions, just as our lives don’t.), less of a wish that novels make arguments (Readers often ask me what conclusions MATRIMONY draws about marriage, when the business of novels isn’t to draw conclusions. That’s the business of philosophy, sociology, economics, and political science. The business of the novelist is to tell a story and to make characters come sufficiently to life that they feel as real to the reader as the actual people in their lives.) But this is all part of a longer and more complicated discussion—perhaps one we can have in a book group!
Finally, if I were a benign despot I’d make a rule that no book can be chosen if over half the members of the group have already heard of it. This would take care of the biggest problem I’ve seen among book groups, which is that everyone’s reading the same twelve books. Eat, Pray, Love. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. Water for Elephants. Kite Runner. I’m not criticizing these books, some of which I haven’t even read. I’m simply saying that there are a lot of great books out there that people don’t know about. There is a feast-or-famine culture in the world of books (just as in the world of non-books), such that fewer and fewer books have more and more readers. This is not the fault of book groups but is a product of a broader and more worrisome problem, brought on by (among other things) the demise of the independent bookstore and the decrease in book review pages. For that reason, it has become harder and harder for all but a handful of books to get the attention they deserve.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Enna Burning Alight With Passion, Intensity
So many reviewers rave about Shannon Hale; after reading two of her novels, I can certainly see
why. I loved The Goose Girl for its gentle, poetic telling and its endearing characters. It also had an innocence to it that left me thoroughly charmed. Its sequel, Enna Burning, thrills for the same reasons - lush language and an enjoyable cast - but it's not nearly as innocent as its predecessor. In fact, it's a little dark. And almost ... erotic. Okay, I'm blushing now, but I don't know how else to explain it - this book is passionate, intense and absorbing.
Not surprisingly (given the title), Enna Burning focuses on Enna, Isi's friend from The Goose Girl. After her escapades in the city, Enna has retired to the forest, where she tends house in the place of her dead mother. Although she's glad to care for her brother Leifer, she misses the excitement of the city. Unbeknownst to her, more excitement than she ever dreamed of is about to waltz right through her front door.
When Leifer comes home one night, clutching an old piece of vellum, Enna senses that he has changed. Indeed, the fabric holds the key to fire-speaking, a gift which allows one to command fire. Having witnessed Isi's gifts with wind and animals, Enna is no stranger to such skills, but Leifer's sudden abilities scare her. The fire seems to burn within him so fiercely that he's not exactly himself. When war breaks out in Bayern, Enna witnesses Leifer's powerful skill, a scene that brings about great tragedy. Still, she wants the fire-power for her own. When she can no longer resist the vellum's lure, she devours its secrets. As it burns inside her, she comes alive with a passion she's never before known. The fire takes over - she can barely resist the excitement, the release, the thrill that the blazes bring.
Enna's greatest desire is to carry on Leifer's legacy by aiding the war effort. Knowing she will never be accepted as a soldier, she begins launching secret attacks on the enemy. When she loses control and sets fire to a human being - something she swore to herself she would never do - she realizes she needs help. To her rescue come two loyal forest boys - Razo and Finn. Together, the threesome scour the countryside, setting enemy camps and arms alight. It's not long, though, before Enna sees fear in her friends' eyes - her all-consuming power scares them.
It scares the Tiran as well, so much so that they would do anything to use it in their fight against Bayern. They capture Enna, drug her, and threaten her with death if she will not spill her secrets. As she lays in a stupor, only one shows her kindness - the handsome Sileph. As the days pass and the two grow closer, he urges Enna to teach her the fire-power. Only then, he promises, can she be free. Weary from captivity, Enna must decide - help the Tiran and save herself or rescue her people? She can't forget the fright in the eyes of her friends - do they even want such a monster living among them? Sileph offers her everything - power, acceptance, love - more than any poor forest boy could. She has to make a decision, even as the fire blazes inside her, distracting her with its seductive flame. What can she do? How can she save her friends, herself, before the fire burns her alive?
Enna Burning, as you can see, gives readers plenty of dizzying action. The characters - most of whom we know from The Goose Girl - continue to delight. Hale's writing has a fairy-tale quality that makes her words charming and readable. Together, these elements make for a fast-paced adventure story that is absorbing all on its own. However, it's the whole fire thing that gives Enna Burning that extra somethin' somethin'. I spent the entire novel trying to figure out the metaphor - Is Hale telling us to bridle our passions? That if we step too close to the fire, we're bound to get burned? - then wondering if I was reading way too much into the text. I love this kind of multi-layered story that not only makes me feel, but also makes me think. I adore The Goose Girl for its innocence; I love Enna Burning for its depth. Just what will the great Shannon Hale do next? I can't wait to read River of Secrets and find out.
Grade: A
why. I loved The Goose Girl for its gentle, poetic telling and its endearing characters. It also had an innocence to it that left me thoroughly charmed. Its sequel, Enna Burning, thrills for the same reasons - lush language and an enjoyable cast - but it's not nearly as innocent as its predecessor. In fact, it's a little dark. And almost ... erotic. Okay, I'm blushing now, but I don't know how else to explain it - this book is passionate, intense and absorbing. Not surprisingly (given the title), Enna Burning focuses on Enna, Isi's friend from The Goose Girl. After her escapades in the city, Enna has retired to the forest, where she tends house in the place of her dead mother. Although she's glad to care for her brother Leifer, she misses the excitement of the city. Unbeknownst to her, more excitement than she ever dreamed of is about to waltz right through her front door.
When Leifer comes home one night, clutching an old piece of vellum, Enna senses that he has changed. Indeed, the fabric holds the key to fire-speaking, a gift which allows one to command fire. Having witnessed Isi's gifts with wind and animals, Enna is no stranger to such skills, but Leifer's sudden abilities scare her. The fire seems to burn within him so fiercely that he's not exactly himself. When war breaks out in Bayern, Enna witnesses Leifer's powerful skill, a scene that brings about great tragedy. Still, she wants the fire-power for her own. When she can no longer resist the vellum's lure, she devours its secrets. As it burns inside her, she comes alive with a passion she's never before known. The fire takes over - she can barely resist the excitement, the release, the thrill that the blazes bring.
Enna's greatest desire is to carry on Leifer's legacy by aiding the war effort. Knowing she will never be accepted as a soldier, she begins launching secret attacks on the enemy. When she loses control and sets fire to a human being - something she swore to herself she would never do - she realizes she needs help. To her rescue come two loyal forest boys - Razo and Finn. Together, the threesome scour the countryside, setting enemy camps and arms alight. It's not long, though, before Enna sees fear in her friends' eyes - her all-consuming power scares them.
It scares the Tiran as well, so much so that they would do anything to use it in their fight against Bayern. They capture Enna, drug her, and threaten her with death if she will not spill her secrets. As she lays in a stupor, only one shows her kindness - the handsome Sileph. As the days pass and the two grow closer, he urges Enna to teach her the fire-power. Only then, he promises, can she be free. Weary from captivity, Enna must decide - help the Tiran and save herself or rescue her people? She can't forget the fright in the eyes of her friends - do they even want such a monster living among them? Sileph offers her everything - power, acceptance, love - more than any poor forest boy could. She has to make a decision, even as the fire blazes inside her, distracting her with its seductive flame. What can she do? How can she save her friends, herself, before the fire burns her alive?
Enna Burning, as you can see, gives readers plenty of dizzying action. The characters - most of whom we know from The Goose Girl - continue to delight. Hale's writing has a fairy-tale quality that makes her words charming and readable. Together, these elements make for a fast-paced adventure story that is absorbing all on its own. However, it's the whole fire thing that gives Enna Burning that extra somethin' somethin'. I spent the entire novel trying to figure out the metaphor - Is Hale telling us to bridle our passions? That if we step too close to the fire, we're bound to get burned? - then wondering if I was reading way too much into the text. I love this kind of multi-layered story that not only makes me feel, but also makes me think. I adore The Goose Girl for its innocence; I love Enna Burning for its depth. Just what will the great Shannon Hale do next? I can't wait to read River of Secrets and find out.
Grade: A
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