Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
Guest Post from Author Laura Kreitzer!
Hello Literary-Folk!
As an author, and someone whose life is put in the spotlight, I keep most people at a distance. Only a handful of my friends know the whole me and the events from my past. But this week I’d like to share with you a part of myself that the outside world doesn’t see (and a part of me I don’t like to share). I was emotionally abused for five years by someone I thought loved me, my mind beaten into submission. Though the turmoil I went through doesn’t penetrate as deep as someone forced into slavery on the worldwide market for human trafficking, I can sadly relate in some ways: imprisoned, my life dictated down to what I wore, ate, where I went, whom I spoke to, where I worked, when I slept, bending to his every whim. He did not sway, even when I cried through some of the more traumatic things he had me do. I was a slave in my own home. In my desperation for freedom, I held out a gun and asked him to just end my suffering. I was desperate.
Did you know this? Because I certainly did not; not until I was preparing to write my newest novel: Phantom Universe. The main character, Summer Waverly, was stolen as a child and sold as a slave to the captain of a modern-day pirate ship. From a loved child who only knew “time-out” as punishment, to being whipped into silence was something I knew nothing about. So I researched deeply into human trafficking and the psychological effects of torture of various types that one would endure in these circumstances. I felt shaken at my findings and knew I had to tell Summer’s story. (Read a sneak peek here.)
“I admired Summer’s strength and ability to adapt,” says CiCi’s Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . .]”
“DNA hopes to help abolish modern day slavery, deter perpetrators, and free the many innocent and exploited victims. We are committed to forcing sex slavery out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
Review: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Final Verdict: 3.5 out of 4.0
YTD: 9
Plot/Story:
4 – Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful
It would be easy to say that Oliver Twist is a Victorian story about an orphaned boy who has to join a gang of ruffians in order to survive life on the streets but then, through some dues-ex-machina, is saved and rewarded beyond imagination. The truth is, though, that Oliver Twist is not about any one boy’s plight; in fact, the character Oliver is probably not directly engaged in the story for more than perhaps half of the novel. So, what is this story about, then? It is about every orphaned boy or girl, and the misery they are forced to endure. It is about the hypocrisy of a Christian society, who prides itself on the “charity” it provides to the poor, all the while blaming the poor for their own unfortunate circumstances and punishing any who dare to ask for more aid or better care. Dickens manages to tell a nation’s story through the life of one boy; he exposes a dark, seedy underbelly to the public eye, and forces shame upon those who would stand by and do nothing, while innocents suffer.
Characterization:
3 – Characters well developed.
As with many Dickens novels, the characters in Oliver Twist tend to more caricatures than believable people. The “bad” guys are purely bad, and the innocent Oliver is almost saint-like in every possible way. The former gets frustrating when one considers that evil-incarnate is rather a rare thing, and typically the easy way out in fiction; and the latter is almost nauseating – Oliver is so sweet and tearfully good that it is hard for a realistic reader like myself not to just want to smack him around a bit. Still, the point is taken – there is good and there is bad. Good people are used and taken advantage of, bad people will scheme and plot with little regard for consequences, and often come to bad ends. Be good, don’t be bad. What redeems the book in terms of characterization, though, are the few very interesting and multi-layered characters, like Mr. Brownlow and Nancy. Both of these two have darker, dangerous sides, but turn out to be genuinely good people who sometimes have to go to extreme measures either to survive or to protect the ones they love. Mr. Losberne, too, who is an incredibly decent man, turns out to have a temper that can spoil any progress that Oliver or the others make in resolving their major issues (such as who is out to destroy Oliver, and why?). Most of the characters are flat and static because they need to be, and because the story does not span a great length of time; but the characters who do change and who interact with one another are so much fun to watch and (let’s admit it) to laugh at, well, the pages just turn and turn.
Prose/Style:
3 – Satisfactory Prose/Style, conducive to the Story.
Discussing Dickens and prose sometimes gets me into trouble. I believe Dickens was a great writer, but I think, had he lived in a time which would have rewarded him (financially) based on the literary and social merits of his work, rather than the word-count or page-length of it, he may have been even greater than he was. I get highly distracted by the prose of his early works because he will go on for sentences and paragraphs, describing (very long-windedly) rather menial things, that could have been more purposefully and poignantly described in a few words or sentences. Of course, Dickens does it because he was paid by word, so using ten words to describe “red hair” would have been highly advantageous. Unfortunately, it makes his books chunky and burdensome at times, and it resulted in my not at all enjoying the first 80-pages or so of Oliver Twist. Fortunately, Dickens is a great writer despite this handicap, and his satire and sarcasm are what truly carry his works, Oliver Twist included. Additional
Elements:
4 – Additional elements improve and advance the story.
What makes this book so great is something that I mentioned above: it is not just about a boy named Oliver Twist who has it rough. It is about human nature and a whole society which has gone ridiculously awry in its priorities – a society which has lost track of or forgotten how to read its moral compass. You have a judge, for instance, perfectly willing to convict a boy of pick-pocketing, sending him to prison for life, without any evidence whatsoever that the boy committed the crime (leaving alone the sentencing of a young boy to life in prison for stealing a handkerchief). You also have a community Beadle, the man responsible for caring for the local poor and homeless, who takes advantage of them, blames them for putting themselves into poverty (despite most of them having been born into it or left parentless at birth), and who sets the youth out to work hard labor at the slightest impetus, such as one asking for more porridge. The book is highly cynical, but balances the critical with the satirical, painting this portrait of ridiculousness over the whole society – the low are made lower, and the high are brought down to Earth. Had this been simply a book about a boy in trouble, it could have been interesting, sad, and heartwarming, but it would have lacked that larger impact – the condemnation of a people’s attitudes and actions towards the underprivileged and the needling-at of social consciousness. Many have found fault in Dickens’s use of certain derogatory terms for people of particular races or religions, such as “The Jew” or “niggers,” and in his descriptive depiction of the murder of one of the prostitutes; while I can understand these concerns (and while I know enough about Dickens to feel generally uncomfortable about his potential for bigotry), I do believe that each of these descriptors was appropriate to the purpose of the novel, which was to depict a realistically dirty, gruff story about an equally damaged and soiled society.
Suggested Reading for:
Age Level: Advanced Teenager, Adult
Interest: History, Class, Society, Poverty, Caste System, Britain
Notable Quotes:
“The persons on whom I have bestowed my dearest love, lie deep in their graves; but, although the happiness and delight of my life lie buried there too, I have not made a coffin of my heart, and sealed it up, forever, on my best affections. Deep affliction has but strengthened and refined them.”
“But, tears were not the things to find their way to Mr. Bumble’s soul; his heart was waterproof.”
“Men who look on nature, and their fellow-men, and cry that all is dark and gloomy, are in the right; but the sombre colours are reflections from their own jaundiced eyes and hearts. The real hues are delicate, and need a clearer vision.”
“As he glided stealthily along, creeping beneath the shelter of the walls and doorways, the hideous old man seemed like some loathsome reptile, engendered in the slime and darkness through which he moved: crawling forth, by night, in search of some rich offal for a meal.”
“. . . there are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.”
“There is a drowsy state, between sleeping and waking, when you dream more in five minutes with your eyes half open, and yourself half conscious of everything that is passing around you, than you would in five nights with your eyes fast closed, and your senses wrapt in perfect unconsciousness. At such time, a mortal knows just enough of what his mind is doing, to form some glimmering conception of its mighty powers, its bounding from earth and spurning time and space, when freed from the restraint of its corporeal associate.”
Saturday’s Uncensored – William Faulkner
“We do not fear censorship for we have no wish to offend with improprieties or obscenities, but we do demand, as a right, the liberty to show the dark side of wrong, that we may illuminate the bright side of virtue.” – D.W. Griffith
Welcome to to another installment of Saturdays, Uncensored! the only weekly meme hosted here at RBR.net. The purpose of this weekly feature is to bring continued scrutiny and awareness to the on-going, destructive practice of censorship and banning books.
Also important to mention this week are two major events coming soon to Roof Beam Reader. The first is a Literary Giveaway Hop, hosted over at Leeswamme’s Blog. I believe there is still time to sign-up, if you would like to host a Giveaway on your own blog. The only caveat is that the Giveaway must be “literary” in nature (so nothing strictly YA, sub-genre fiction, paranormal romance, etc.). I will be hosting a powerhouse giveaway here at RBR.net, with a few different “themed” prize packs, so definitely mark your calendars for February 19th!
The second event is a guest post by Laura Kreitzer, author of Phantom Universe. She will be here to talk about her book and the darkly terrifying realities which inspired it. The book comes out on February 15th, and Laura’s guest post will be available here at RBR.net on release date. Definitely stop by on Feb. 15th to read her very powerful and enlightening post, and interact with me and the author about it all.
Okay! Now that all of the little details about this month’s activities are out of the way, it is on to the good stuff! This week, in Saturdays, Uncensored!, we take a look at a work by one of America’s greatest writers, William Faulkner.
William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is an exploration of family, society, and mortality. The Bundren family, led by their bumbling but ultimately calculating father, travels by horse and buggy from their small farm into the city of Jefferson, Alabama to bury their dead mother. The trip takes days, due to weather and various calamities, and what the reader learns about each character, and the characters about one another, ends up being the redeeming trait for a would-be-simple trip gone wildly awry.
All-in-all, I found this to be one of Faulkner’s more accessible novels. For literature lovers who are interested in reading Faulkner but who have been dissuaded by reviews/descriptions of his more ambitious works or who have perhaps started those novels and given up, this might be a substantive, meaningful compromise. While I did find some fault with the novel, particularly in the lack of “meaty” scenes and character interaction, I was still generally happy with characterization itself, as well as the story and it’s ironic, darkly humorous ending. The last few lines of the novel, when Mr. Bundren’s ultimate purpose and decision are revealed to his family and the reader, reminded of a Vonnegut-type wit and total exasperation for humankind. This, of course, was right up my alley, and it made a “good” read, for me, pretty great in the end.
According to the American Library Association, As I Lay Dying was banned or challenged at least four times between 1986 and 1994. The most common reasons for these challenges were that the book “questioned the existence of God” or had “obscene passages.” The “obscene” passages most at issue were mainly two: one which dealt with a character contemplating abortion, and the other a passage about masturbation.Now, I don’t know what high school was like in the 1980s and 1990s, but from what I remember of it- masturbation was was talked about constantly, at least by the male portion of the student body, so wouldn’t the presence of it in a classic, heralded text do something to, I don’t know, validate the human condition? I’m also disturbed that this book would be challenged over its inclusion of abortion, because the way that this particular book dealt with that issue is one of the most honest and moving examples I can recall. It paid great attention to the “thought process” and physical/emotional strain on the mother. As for the primary complaint, that the book “questions the existence of God” and “uses God’s name in vain,” come on. Really? I mean, I can understand that there are still some wing nuts out there who would not want to read a book for these reasons, but that a public school district actually banned the book for it? I am flabbergasted by this, and it leaves me wondering why the few nutters who shout the loudest are continuously allowed to be the ones making decisions for all the more moderate, sensible parents. Where are the reasonable arguments – and why aren’t they resonating just as loudly down the school hallways?
How to Be a Perfect Reader
Now, I receive e-mails, Tweets, comments, and other inquiries from people all the time, asking how to be a “good” reader or a “better” reader. I have kept rather mum on this subject, in general, because I like to keep these secrets to myself so that I can appear better than you all. With the shadow of Valentine’s Day stretching toward us, though, I thought I would spread the love a bit and spill the beans on my cherished secrets, in the interest of improving the lives and abilities of my dear readers.
Instead of telling you how to be a “better” reader, though, I’ve decided to share my thoughts on how to be a perfect reader. Being a perfect reader, to put it simply, means reading exactly the same way as I do. You need to choose the books I choose, sit in the same positions I sit, drink the same liquids, eat the same solids. Heck, you better even time your bathroom breaks and sleep patterns to coincide with my daily cycle.
Essentially, you have to be little bookish clones of Yours Truly. Are you prepared for that level of literary liability? If not, then get lost – go carry on with your life as a sub-par reader. We don’t want your kind here, anyway. But, if you’re ready, then here we go!
Alright, enough. If you’ve gotten this far and haven’t yet figured out that I’m being facetious, there are probably one of two things happening: A) You’re totally thinking I’m this egomaniacal jerk or B) You’re so passionately obsessed with me already that my self-lauding pomposity makes you feel all tingly. Either option is a bit scary, so let’s just say I was channeling the satirical spirit of Jonathan Swift and move on.
In real news, though, the above charade was inspired by the below bookish-survey, which I found over at Curling Up By the Fire. It’s all about my reading process – hope it’s interesting to some. I’m sure I’d like to hear some of your answers too!
Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack:
I almost always have something to snack on while I’m eating which, as I get older, is turning out to be a not-so-good idea. I’m not talking pop-tarts or pasta, though. It’s usually crackers or pretzels – I like the “crunch, crunch” noise in my mouth, as I’m reading. It’s a bit weird, because I’m the type of reader who needs virtual silence to really sink into and enjoy my reading – I guess internal noise-making does not bother me so much.
What is your favorite drink while reading?
I almost always have a bottle of water nearby (and I’m learning this is surprisingly standard for people who read often). I guess reading is an exercise, after all, so one must stay hydrated. I do also drink iced mocha coffee quite a bit while reading, and sometimes change it up with juice. Usually water, though.
Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Are you kidding? Writing in books is a must! I am very big on annotations, though I never used to be. It would have been impossible to survive college and graduate school as an English/American Lit student without annotating, though, and I learned it really does enhance the experience. I love to loan out copies of my annotated books, too, and get feedback from friends/family members who would read my notes and call me to say things like, “Wow! I didn’t know birds could be symbols!” So much fun. But, I will qualify this by saying, I do not mark-up important editions of books. If I have a collectible or first-edition, I’ll purposely set that aside and buy a “to read” copy, which I can mark up and bend and earmark any which way I choose.
How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
I do not ever lay a book flat open to keep my page – this is the best and quickest way to irreparably break the book’s spine, which annoys the heck out of me! I always have a bookmark. I loan those out too, though, so I’m always in need of new ones. I must buy one bookmark for every ten or so books that I buy, which seems unnecessary because I only ever read one book a time. I guess I just like variety. Oh, and I like to match up larger bookmarks with large/fat books (or hardcovers) and smaller/thinner book marks for paperbacks and smaller books. I’m so much fun.
Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
I think I have a 90/10 fiction to non-fiction ratio. I enjoy fiction much more (particularly literary fiction), but I do read non-fiction from time-to-time, typically when I read something in a book or hear about it somewhere and want to actually learn more about it. Example: I heard about Lincoln’s inclusion of his bitterest rivals into his own Cabinet on some t.v. show, thought that was amazing and interesting, so picked up the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I do not like being interrupted in the middle of a chapter, but sometimes there’s no choice. If I can, I always read chapter-by-chapter (or chapters at a time), but in books with insanely long chapters (as in The Golden Mean), you have to stop where you have to stop.
Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville, which is now one of my all-time favorite books. It wasn’t so much that the author irritated me, but that he was so good in doing what he was doing, which was confusing the reader and interweaving plot-lines to distract us from what was or wasn’t really happening. I love it now, but I hated it then, when trying to pin everything down so I could go explain it to a graduate seminar filled with people who probably hadn’t bothered to finish the book.
If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
Only if I can’t figure out its meaning from context – it doesn’t happen too often, but I love having a “smart” phone with dictionary and thesaurus applications on it. Yes, I’m that much of a nerd. I also get a “word of the day” sent to my phone every morning. =/
What are you currently reading?
I’m reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. This is my 5th Dickens, and I plan to read at least one more this year (David Copperfield).
What is the last book you bought?
Well, the last books I bought were purchased at the same time. Want a list? Okay:
Fire from Heaven – by Mary Renault
The Symposium by Plato
If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Sappho
Nicholas Daneby Melvin Burgess
Oresteia by Aeschylus
The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
So, I was obviously in an Ancient Classics kind of mood during my last book buying binge. I’ll soon post a picture of this stack (plus four others not mentioned) on my Facebook Fan Page.
Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
Now that I’m out of graduate school, I find it much more enjoyable to read one book at a time. The only time this changes is if I happen to be taking part in a read-along or multiple challenges at the same time. I don’t do that, though.
Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
I like to read when I’m alone and things are quiet. This tends to happen only on weekends, because I work late and don’t usually have the apartment to myself when I get home (at least not for long). I will sometimes read on my lunch break at work, but it depends on how stressed I am for the day. Sometimes, instead of reading on my breaks, I’ll go to a bookstore and pace around until all the day’s frustrations leak out. Then, I go back to work. Joy!
Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
I am doing a series completion challenge this year because I don’t tend to finish the series’ that I begin. I guess this is a solid indicator that I prefer stand alone books, and that is probably because I prefer literary fiction or classics to any other genre (and most classics don’t have sequels). I do like some series’, though, and I enjoy them – they’re just not my top priority.
Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
Authors: J.D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Irving Stone, Mark Twain
Books: Harry Potter series, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Lust for Life, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
How do you organize your books?
Most of my books are currently in boxes in storage, but the ones I have out are in two bookcases. The first and largest case (5 shelves) is my “fiction” set, which is organized alphabetically by author. The second, smaller bookcase (3 shelves) is my “non-fiction” set, which is also organized alphabetically by author, within genre (History, Literary Theory, Reference, etc.). I also have piles of books behind the books on my bookcase, and on top of the bookcase, which are just the most recent purchases that have nowhere else to go yet. Oh, and I keep all of the books I have been sent by authors/agents/publishers or those that I have won in giveaways on top of a cabinet which houses my DVDs. There are currently 15 books there, waiting to be read.
Okay, wow! I guess that’s the end of the line. Thanks for stopping by – and feel free to share your thoughts on my answers to these questions, or give me some insight into your own bookish life.
Cheers!
Review: Eeeee Eee Eeee by Tao Lin
Eeeee Eee Eeee by Tao Lin
Final Verdict: 3.25 out of 4.0
YTD: 7
Plot/Story:
4 – Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful
The title of this novel, Eeeee Eee Eeee, should be enough to tip off the reader that the book is going to be, well, a bit odd. And it is. While many aspects of the book are entirely believable – even to the point of being mundanely typical- some elements are just, well, completely inexplicable. Still, Tao Lin leaves no room for doubt in these bizarre situations, so the reader must push forward, accept what is happening (like talking bears with depression, and homicidal dolphin philosophers, for example), and try to wade through the nonsense to get the picture being presented, which is one of hopelessness and lethargy. This book is a scathing, though creative, argument against American capitalism, which Lin seems to believe has been a creative and moral leech on society and progress.
Characterization:
2 – Characters slightly developed.
The main character, Andrew, is a depressed, socially awkward, slightly delusional twenty-year-old pizza delivery man, with an obsession for a girl who may or may not exist. The reader must wonder whether or not he is just weird, or if he might be suffering from some serious acid-trips gone wrong, considering the amount of time he spends talking to humanoid animals – most of which are just as depressed, sad, and bizarre as Andrew is himself. His friend, Steve, and Steve’s family are equally weird, though not so strange as Andrew (one can imagine that the other characters, though just as lazy, could possibly succeed at something whereas Andrew will surely never amount to anything). There is little depth to any of the characters, and absolutely no growth for any. Some of the most interesting characters are the ones who are not real – the dolphins, bears, gerbils, etc. who have human-like qualities and often communicate with Andrew in some way (taking him in on strange, Labyrinth-like journeys to hidden, underground worlds). There is also a strange and funny meeting with the United States President (Bush?), an alien, the animals, and Andrew, near the end of the book. The bottom line seems to be that there is no point to anything, and no happiness or purpose to be found anywhere.
Prose/Style:
3 – Satisfactory Prose/Style, conducive to the Story.
Lin’s prose is certainly engaging – playful but serious at the same time. He moves the story forward at a great pace, and his descriptions are simple but well-wrought. The language is simple, too, but not in a dumb-down sort of way.
Additional Elements: Setting, Symbols/Motifs, Resolution, etc.
4 – Additional elements improve and advance the story.
What is most impressive about the novel is its purpose. I am not head-over-heels about the delivery or the plot/story itself, but its intent – the passion and beliefs behind it- are well-received, important, and thought-provoking. What is happening to America’s youth and the American dream? Children stay children younger – dependent on their parents and families for years after college, in many cases; and yet, children are also forced to grow up so fast – exposed to adult themes and moral situations at younger and younger ages. The result: Loneliness, despair, a sense of disconnect from the world, and a total loss for meaning and purpose in life. We live in a world and culture which measures success by how much someone can afford – how big is your house? How many cars do you own, and how much did they cost? How much energy can you waste? How long can you live at home, avoiding things like responsibility, building a career, starting a family? What happened to accountability, hard work, and valued achievements?
Suggested Reading for:
Age Level: Adult
Interest: Angst, Depression, anti-Capitalism, America, Despair, Philosophy, Culture
Notable Quotes:
“A world without right or wrong was a world that did not want itself, anything other than itself, or anything not those two things, but that still wanted something. A world without right or wrong invited you over, complained about you, and gave you cookies. Don’t leave, it said, and gave you a vegan cookie. It avoided eye contact, but touched your knee sometimes. It was the world without right or wrong. It didn’t have any meaning. It just wanted a little meaning.”
“He used to think things like, This organic soymilk will make me healthy and that’ll make my brain work better and that’ll improve my writing. Also things like, The less I eat the less money I spend on publicly owned companies the less pain and suffering will exist in the world. Now he thinks things like, It is impossible to be happy. Why would anyone think that?”
Roof Beam Reader 