Wordless Wednesday: Crater Lake National Park

Crater Lake National Park

More Wordless Wednesday here.

Photo by moi.

Book Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox a.k.a. I love dystopian novels

The Adoration of Jenna Fox
by Mary E. Pearson
★★★★

Jenna is a 17-year –old who wakes up after an 18 month coma. Slowly her memories begin to return and some disturbing truths are revealed. This dystopian novel deals mainly with science vs. ethics and is hard to put down.

I love dystopian novels. Some of my favorite books fall into this category. I love how truths of human nature are often revealed in these stories and the fact that they’re never very far from our current reality. Writing a book set in a future or parallel world gives the author the freedom to explore touchy issues in an abstract way.

In dystopian novels the line between good and bad is always blurred, it is an exploration of gray in a way that shows just how black and white things often are (if that makes any sense.) The bad guys always have a perfectly reasonable explanation for all the choices they’ve made. Sometimes they even make some convincing arguments, but then you remember what they’ve done and you’re horrified that you even considered siding with them for an instant.

*********SPOILERS FOR OTHER DYSTOPIAN BOOKS*********

For example, in Fahrenheit 451 they burn books, in The Giver they have forced euthanasia, in The Hunger Games it’s the slaughter of children for entertainment.

******SPOILER OVER*********

Though I was completely swept away by this book at first, it seemed to unravel a bit in the second half. I don’t think Pearson knew what point she was trying to make. It was like she was using the book as a platform to discuss the issue and in the first half she brought up some chilling points, then in the second half she seemed to just waffle back and forth on whether she thought it was right or wrong.

My favorite part of the whole book is the character of Lily, Jenna’s grandma. She is the grounding factor for me, the one I can relate to. She’s in the story, but she isn’t the one who has made any of the decisions, so she can be a bit more objective.

The inspiration for this book was born out of Pearson’s own experiences. Her eldest daughter was diagnosed with cancer, then a few years later her youngest daughter was diagnosed with the same cancer. Those traumatic events led her to explore the question of science vs. ethics and wonder how far a parent would be willing to go to save their child. It’s a fascinating exploration, but she didn’t seem to be able to answer her own question.

It’s definitely worth reading, but some elements are far-fetched and it seems to really have to reach to wrap everything up at the end. I do think this would be a fun one to discuss in a book club.

Fluttering Butterflies has a great review here.

Book Reviews: Nation

Nation
by Terry Pratchett
★★★★☆

This was my first experience with Pratchett and it will not be my last. After hearing about him for years, I decided I just had to read something of his. Nymeth at Things Mean A Lot is a big Pratchett fan and was kind enough to suggest Nation as a good place to start.

It took me a minute to get into the book. I wasn’t sure what to expect and at first I wasn’t sure what to make of the story. It centers on Maw, the only survivor of the Nation, which is destroyed by a tsunami. He is left alone, disconnected from all he has ever known and he’s at once filled with grief, confusion and anger. He turns to the Nation’s gods for answers and is left feeling more lost than ever.

The plot really picks up when we meet Daphne (really Ermintrude, but she hates that name, so she says her name is Daphne.) She is a British girl whose ship has crashed on the island. Her relationship with Maw reminded me so much of Peter Pan and Wendy. She’s prim and proper at first and he is baffled by her ways, but soon they find a balance and develop a wonderful friendship.

The best parts of the book, for me, were the interactions between those two. Once they moved past their initial impressions they realized they could learn so much from one another. I also loved seeing Daphne gain confidence in herself. She was such a great character; part girl, part woman, trying to come to terms with her own grief and grow up at the same time.

With absolutely no spoilers included I do want to say how much I loved the ending. The characters grew on me throughout the book and by the end I felt so invested in them. The ending definitely increased my rating of the book and my overall love of it. So if it feels slow at first, definitely give it time.

I have to say I was really impressed with Pratchett. He has a similar writing style to Neil Gaiman (whom I adore) and the delightful sense of humor of Douglas Adams. So clearly he’s destined to become a favorite. He also manages to balance humor and a deeper message, which I really value in an author. I think that can be a hard thing to accomplish and he seemed to do it effortlessly. At first I didn’t even realize he had slipped such important issues into the fold of the story, but once I did I was really moved by the points-of-view he brings up. I’m looking forward to trying out his Discworld series, which I’ve heard is great. Any other Pratchett suggestions from fans of his out there?

Here's another great review at Chasing Bawa.