Mid March

The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel, was a book filled with small surprises.  He builds suspense little by little, but I did not necessarily know it as I read. The words were comforting to take in and so once I realized something odd was going on, he made me do a double take and I found myself chuckling to at how cleaver he was to have duped me.  You can almost hear him saying, "Wait, wait, wait for it..." before he exposes what is actually going on.
Martel makes lists of adjectives, lists of actions, lists of characteristics.
The way the protagonist walks,
The particularities of the artifact that Tomas is seeking,
The relationship between Agatha Christie and god,
The thread that exists between the three different stories,
without giving anything away.

There is some magic realism, and like the Life of Pi, the author wrestles with religion and god, and the mysteries of life.

However, the ending was a bit disappointing when I was left with the sudden appearance of a Rhinoceros.

Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey

Next I randomly picked up Ways to Disappear because I like the look of the cover with its cut out suitcase full of butterflies. The threads that exist from one book I read to the next are mysterious.  Going from the High Mountains of Portugal, I embark on a story of a Portuguese translator who is on a search for her Brazilian author, who has gone missing. 

From the first paragraph, I am on a hunt for the missing eccentric Brazilian. 

The tone of the book is odd though. 

Is this a romantic novel?

 Is it a Mystery? 

Is it supposed to be Campy?

Is it meant to be so bloody gruesome?

Is it all of the above, or not?

The book is written from many different character’s perspectives, with no quotation marks when people speak.  It goes from the Pittsburgh translator to the daughter of the Brazilian, to the gay publisher, back and fourth, so it takes a beat to get your mind into each chapter.  Once in a while the short chapters cut to an email sent by the boyfriend of the Pittsburgh translator or a DJ from Radio Globo.  Because of this last occasional interlude, it has the feeling of Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs- without the snappy, cleaver dialogue.

This book also had an unsatisfying ending.  It ended abruptly.

When a book begins with a zaftig woman smoking a cigar, climbing a tree, exposing her fraying unsexy underwear, I expect a light comedy, but the blood and the gruesomeness of what happens to the characters is unexpected and unsettling.

February Recap

February Recap:

Purchased books: 

HarryPotter and the Deathly Hallows

(for Hiro- we have the hardbound copy but you can't carry it on the train with you, so we like to have a paper copy to cut in half to make it lighter...wasteful I know, but the kid wanted to finish the series...and unfortunately the Scholastic book order came after we finished the series, so now it sits unopened on the shelf until he rereads the whole series in a few years)

Library books for me:

The Story of the Lost Childby Elena Ferrante translated by Ann Goldstein

The Martian: a Novel by Andy Weir

Library books for Hiro:

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

The Sasquatch Escape

The Rain Dragon Rescue

The Fairy Swarm

The Griffin’s Riddle

The Order of the Unicorn

            By Suzanne Selfors illustrations by Dan Santat.

The Schnoz of Doom by Andrea Beaty illustrated by Dan Santat

 *******

I started and finished off the last of the Ferrante novel on the last leg of the trip home from the deathbed visit to my aunt.  It’s an undertaking to read about the entirety of one’s life from age six into their sixtys in one month but I can now cross that series off my list.  I felt a bit disappointed at the ending…and as I closed the book, thought… "Really?  This is how it’s going to end?”  I suppose it was a conclusion, though one I felt was a bit weak.  Lina still had the upper hand in the relationship and though never found, I know that she can return to torment at a later date if Ferrante decides to continue the series years from now.

I was in a quandary as to what to read next.  Even though I was sick of reading about the two women in Italy by the 4^th book, it was a place of comfort to have something to read without having to choose what to read.  I asked around once again on Facebook and got a list of similar themed books as the Ferrante.  But I wanted to leave that world…the world of Italian chick-lit. 

Fortunately, I binge watched movies on my 30 hour trip to and from Japan when I was not reading.  One of the standout entertainments was TheMartian with Matt Damon.  And extra fortunate was that it was a book first by Andy Weir.  So I checked it out as soon as the library opened the day after my return.  It’s a sci-fi book but steeped in math and science that is believable, most people would probably call this a guy book.  But it was so refreshing to read it right after the 4 Ferrante novels. 

I’ve been thinking about "boy books" and "girl books" lately since the online course I’ve been taking had us reading about  these labels.  Discussions about what topics are meant for boys vs. girls, and the stigma associated with labeling a book one way or another. Jon Scieszka has done wonders for the reluctant boy readers with his Guy's Read campaign.  We went to a book launch, signing last Halloween for the latest Guy's read publication.  There were 6-7 authors on stage reading from their short stories and I was happy to see that half of them were women.  The audience was also a mixture of girls and boys.  But, by labeling books,  Scieszka pigeonholes the boys into reading books about sports, war, battle, robots, etc... it would be great if we could find a better catchier term for "reluctant readers read" as an updated motto for his campaign, and find topics outside the stereotypical for these boys to read.  I wholly agree that librarians and teachers should call books by their topics such as a book about fashion or video games...instead of "boy" books and "girl" books.  But even in adult Novels, there is definitely a divide.  Harley read half a page and could not get through the Ferrante “girl” book.  The  Martian, “boy” book however I could see being appealing for both men and women alike…having a film made of the book starring Matt Damon doesn’t hurt a bit either

Unlike the previous series, I was enjoying this book so much that I refused to read it quickly, to savor it for as long as I could.  I began to read the newspaper and New Yorkers in between each chapter. 

What is so great about this book is that I can parallel some of the problems astronaut Mark Watney is going through on Mars with what my students are doing in class.  I know we are only making models of seating structures and templates for head sculptures and there is no threat of death with every obstacle, but the concepts of problem-solving are the same: identifying the problem, working through the problem, doing tests, having tenacity and follow-through, completing repetitive tasks to finally solve the problem.  In one passage where Watney is determining how to make his sleeping tent on mars:

Problem is (follow me closely here, the science is pretty complicated), if I cut a hole in the Hab, the air won’t stay inside anymore.  I’ll have to depressurize the Hab, cut chunks out, and put it back together (smaller).  I spent today figuring out the exact sizes and shapes of canvas I’ll need.  I need to not fuck this up, so I triple-checked everything.  I even made a model out of paper.

OK? This is what we are doing in class right now!  Making models out of paper to figure out what we need to build life size. I also enjoyed the smart ass, sarcastic tone of Watney’s speech, and found myself trying to emanating him in class. There is another part in the book where all the fancy modern navigation methods and computers just won’t work, so Watney fashions a jury-rigged sextant, a 16^th century tool to navigate on Mars.  Lesson to students: no matter what fancy computer programs and 3-D printing tools are available, unless you understand the concepts of the object you are designing, your project will be shit.  So one needs to understand the basics to be able to excel with the advanced technology available.

Since this book being a “boy” book, I tried to get Hiro interested in it as well, especially since at times Watney sounds like a smart ass tween boy.  And even though there is a lot of “shit”, “fuck”, etc, some of the parts were so great that I translated them for the PG ear and read Hiro passages out loud:

            The rover batteries have 18 Kilowatt-hours per sol. You know what?  “Kilowatt-hours per sol” is a pain in the butt (ass) to say.  I’m gonna invent a new scientific unit name.  One kilowatt-hour per son is…it can be anything…um…I stink (suck) at this I’ll call it a “pirate-ninja.” 

I need only three liters of water per sol, so my supply will last 206 sols.  There’s only 100 sols after I leave and before I’m picked up.  Conclusion: I don’t need the water reclaimer at all.  I’ll drink as needed and dump my waste outdoors.  Yeah, that’s right, Mars, I’m gonna pee (piss) and poop (shit) on you.  That’s what you get for trying to kill me all the time.  There. I saved myself 3.6 pirate-ninjas.

Other passages that a kid can relate to:

            The Hab is a shell of it’s former self.  I’ve robbed it of all critical components and a big chunk of it’s canvas.  I’ve looted that poor Hab for everything it could give me, and in return it’s kept me alive for a year and a half.  Its like the Giving Tree.

I really wish this book would come out with less profanity so kids could read it too, not just for the entertaining story but for the science. 

I was sad to finish it and asked Hiro, "Don't you hate finishing a really good book?"  

His reply:  "Yeah, I know, that's why I read series."

Anyway, now I have nothing to read besides the newspaper on my commutes and it’s depressing the hell out of me. I’ve requested a bunch of books from the library…I wish they would hurry up and get to me.