I have been reading A Game of Thrones this year, but I subbed in an English class for three days last week and decided to read the book that they were working on: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It was on my "list" to get to someday. Made a nice excuse to borrow the teacher's copy and be able to help the kids with the study questions. Really enjoyed it. For a sci fi book written in 1977, I found it pretty current. Most notable for me was the treatment of the human, the layers of emotions and motives and power, internal structures, and the search for identity and role separate from manipulation.
Page 102: "Listen, Ender, commanders have just as much authority as you let them have. The more you obey them, the more power they have over you." (Dink)
Page 231: Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.
Page 241: "...If you try and lose then it isn't your fault. But if you don't try and we lose, then it's all your fault." (Valentine)
Definitely recommend it.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Black House
I'm not a fan of horror, but I started reading Stephen King after I read a book he wrote on the art of writing. And after seeing The Green Mile. I find his talent at crafting words and structuring story amazing. There is a depth and a life to his "worlds" that is beautiful. So that's why I picked up Black House, the creepy thriller that Stephen King and Peter Straub collaborated on together. I haven't read Straub before and have no way to identify who penned what lines or how they shared the writing. I don't care. I found myself in a frightening and tangible world, alongside a believable other-world. The characters were fully, roundly developed. I especially liked the blind disc jockey with his various on-air personas, his insight and his gumption.
I kept only three quotes. I'm glad I did. As I read them over again, the story comes back. And I remember why I connect to the story; it's written by people who, from what they write, seem like me.
Page 6: Like most assumptions, this one embodies an uneasy half-truth.
Page 83: Voluntarily, idly, he walked into craziness, and now he was crazy.
Page 93: Jack's grief, which has been sharpening itself underground, once again rises up to stab him, as if for the first time, bang, dead-center in the heart.
I kept only three quotes. I'm glad I did. As I read them over again, the story comes back. And I remember why I connect to the story; it's written by people who, from what they write, seem like me.
Page 6: Like most assumptions, this one embodies an uneasy half-truth.
Page 83: Voluntarily, idly, he walked into craziness, and now he was crazy.
Page 93: Jack's grief, which has been sharpening itself underground, once again rises up to stab him, as if for the first time, bang, dead-center in the heart.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Congo
Maybe it seems funny, reading a jungle thriller during the holidays. I actually was reading Michael Crichton's Congo mostly during November though.
At the time I was participating in Portland Storyteller Theater's workshop of Urban Tellers. I was encouraged to do it by a couple of friends thanks to some animated stories I've told. But it was much harder than I thought it'd be. I ended up telling a story that I do like, but that feels a little "fluff." But that may be only because it is a story from twenty years ago. It's about a hike I took in Papua Guinea during my honeymoon, trying to find a waterfall I'd seen from the little bush plane. You can find it on youtube under my name or by clicking here. Although I was more challenged than I expected by storytelling, I did enjoy it and would do it again. It's such a unique art form. Oral stories are a little different every time they are told.
I had seen the movie version of Congo several years ago (years!) when it came out in theaters. It was interesting how dated the technology in the story was, yet how cutting edge it still felt. To me, my story about the waterfall was so similar to this one, which seems strange to say. But the similiarity was in the failure of both missions. I never made it to the waterfall; the team didn't get the diamonds. Yet the lessons from the journey proved to be the value of the undertaking.
Okay, it's a stretch.
And I didn't keep any quotes. The power was in the suspense, not the lovely use of language. :-)
At the time I was participating in Portland Storyteller Theater's workshop of Urban Tellers. I was encouraged to do it by a couple of friends thanks to some animated stories I've told. But it was much harder than I thought it'd be. I ended up telling a story that I do like, but that feels a little "fluff." But that may be only because it is a story from twenty years ago. It's about a hike I took in Papua Guinea during my honeymoon, trying to find a waterfall I'd seen from the little bush plane. You can find it on youtube under my name or by clicking here. Although I was more challenged than I expected by storytelling, I did enjoy it and would do it again. It's such a unique art form. Oral stories are a little different every time they are told.
I had seen the movie version of Congo several years ago (years!) when it came out in theaters. It was interesting how dated the technology in the story was, yet how cutting edge it still felt. To me, my story about the waterfall was so similar to this one, which seems strange to say. But the similiarity was in the failure of both missions. I never made it to the waterfall; the team didn't get the diamonds. Yet the lessons from the journey proved to be the value of the undertaking.
Okay, it's a stretch.
And I didn't keep any quotes. The power was in the suspense, not the lovely use of language. :-)
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
The Gravedigger's Daughter
Joyce Carol Oates writes dense, rich characters and tense yet satisfying scenes. I've loved her books in the past, and I loved The Gravedigger's Daughter. I kept only two quotes from this long novel. It's shows where my headspace is.
Page 46: The danger in motherhood. You relive your early self, through the eyes of your own mother. (So true!)
Page 303: She was lying awake in the dark, hands clasped behind her head. Thinking of her life strung out behind her like beads of myriad shapes, in memory crowded, confusing as in life each had been singular, and had defined itself with the slowness of the sun's trajectory across the sky. You knew the sun was moving yet you never saw it move.
I'm gripped.
Page 46: The danger in motherhood. You relive your early self, through the eyes of your own mother. (So true!)
Page 303: She was lying awake in the dark, hands clasped behind her head. Thinking of her life strung out behind her like beads of myriad shapes, in memory crowded, confusing as in life each had been singular, and had defined itself with the slowness of the sun's trajectory across the sky. You knew the sun was moving yet you never saw it move.
I'm gripped.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
July books 2014: Wildflower Hill, Sick Puppy, A Simple Murder
This month flew. Three books; no quotes.
Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman. I really loved this story. It took me two tries to get into it, but the second time it struck me right and I couldn't put it down. The characters moved me.
Then there was Sick Puppy, by Carl Hiaasen. I read one of his books before and had a lot of fun with it. He does unpredictable sassy plot twists with complex and imperfect characters. I couldn't decide who was the sickest puppy.
Eleanor Kuhns' A Simple Murder was light for a murder mystery. Crafted well enough, it kept my attention. I was entertained.
Quotes will return.
Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman. I really loved this story. It took me two tries to get into it, but the second time it struck me right and I couldn't put it down. The characters moved me.
Then there was Sick Puppy, by Carl Hiaasen. I read one of his books before and had a lot of fun with it. He does unpredictable sassy plot twists with complex and imperfect characters. I couldn't decide who was the sickest puppy.
Eleanor Kuhns' A Simple Murder was light for a murder mystery. Crafted well enough, it kept my attention. I was entertained.
Quotes will return.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
The Turnaround
George Pelecanos wrote an excellent novel called The Turnaround. I didn't save any quotes, probably because it was written so cleanly and directly, nothing fancy, just good story telling. It reminded me some of Bonfire of the Vanities, with the gritty happenstance of life and those moments that mark turning points.
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