Space Opera & The Martian

I read The Martian, AKA The Misadventures of Mark Watney in Space. It's pretty witty, quick, and comical. The ironic humor is supplemented by the abundance of scientific facts that then provide a vehicle to facilitate the gags. There are some great sequences on Mars where Weir uses the diary format of Watney's recording to extend the ironic elements of the story. e.x.

• Sol 34- “Things are finally going my way. In fact, they’re going great! I have a chance to lie after all!”
• Sol 37 (immediately after)- “I am fucked, and I’m gonna die!”

And my favorite; “A steady, obnoxious beeping that eventually roused me from a deep and profound desire to just docking die.” Other than jokes about his livelihood, Mark makes a lot of jabs at bureaucratic policies and processes. Too bad I felt these jokes got boggled down by Weir's favor of hard science.

Weir, at many points, neglects to properly describe anything to form any helpful imagery to assist readers with the harder science aspects of the novel. Here are some thoughts I had while ready:

• I'm halfway through the book and still don't know the configuration of the goddamn HAB because it was so quickly and poorly described.
• And how the fuck do the rovers really look? I know what a rover looks like, but this one in the story is hard to understand. Like how big is it? What are its dimensions so I can understand how Mark is trying to fit an oxygenator in it?
• And what is Pathfinder?
• It's hard to keep track of what's been jerry-rigged with what.

I often felt like I had to play catch-up because I was always confused with the visual aspects of Watney's technical creations. Although the language used is pretty colloquial, it's a hard read because there's a lot of technical jargon and attitudes. Weir is clearly making fun of bureaucratical processes but I found I could read 2-6 pages and not recall what I've read. I read the book relatively quickly but it still felt like I was fighting an uphill battle. The simultaneous events on earth and on Mars are more confusing rather than enlightening. It's disappointing too because any event that is mildly suspenseful or gripping, is drawn out with science talk that is untranslatable and makes it anticlimactic. I guess just don't like Weir's writing but I felt he really sucked all the air out of the retrieval of Mark Watney to the point I didn't even care, I just wanted to finish the book.

However if I understood hard science I can imagine these gags would be enhanced by the in depth scientific lens in which they're displayed. Overall, the book wasn't for me or my audience. Additionally, it did teach great lessons on procedural thinking instead of brute force to process a problem. And Mark Watney ran into a lot of problems.  

The Ocean at The End of The Lane & Adulthood

In The Ocean at The End of The Lane (shortened to The Lane from here on out), Gaiman commits to certain ideologies about relationships, mainly concerning those in adulthood, expressed through the lens of a child. There is a general mistrust of adults encouraged throughout The Lane, as they usually don't listen and are internally children themselves. Throughout, the main character (narrator) blankly establishes some poignant values to support this main ideology:

• He does not kill animals, assuming because animals are seen as honest, pure souls to be respected, in works of fiction. They are a part of nature and nature is to be valued; this is also a running theme but more subtle. Only adults disrespect nature; as seen with the opal miner's profession and attitude or conversely with the Hempstock's respect for their animals. 
• He enjoys myths, primarily Greek, because they're neither adult nor children stories, "they just are".
• He reads a lot, most likely this is to express his need to escape his current household; further explored with his adventures with Lettie.
• He mentions specifically that he mistrusts adults because they don't believe him, and that's why he would never tell about the dreams he's had.

However, the main character establishes early on that we all look like and thus will become our parents. It is an aspect of life that he struggles to reconcile with, as we all do. To further the feeling of detachment and social disconnect; there seems to be no interpersonal relationships held, at all. Everything is stated as a fact, either untrue or true. The extended flashback that is used to frame the story is from the perspective of a child, therefore everything is (cleverly) described in a matter-of-fact manner, making the retellings very straightforward. For example, the narrator, at age 7, could only relate his feelings about money relative to how many sweets he could get; "I went to bed that night happy and excited. I was rich. Buried treasure had been discovered. The world was a good place."

When examined from a broader perspective, this is a commentary on how children have simplified views of the world. Often it can benefit them by dismissing trauma. However, children can be hindered by their oversimplification due to the process producing more obstacles than are actually there. When the narrator happens upon the dead opal miner, we as the reader don't know if the narrator has registered what he's seen. Only a couple of pages later, through an analogy, does the narrator address it by saying "They could not look truly dead, because they did not ever look alive." Through the miner, we learn how the narrator processes information, particularly about death. The miner's apology for accidentally killing the narrator's cat is seen as a repayment; an exchange, there are no apologies given or received and the cat is merely replaced with another cat. More so, the miner's suicide is the catalyst to Ursula Monkton's arrival, a being that introduces a grey morality that the narrator is not familiar with.

Ursula Monkton gives the narrator strange feelings, she is reminiscent of The Sheep Man in A Wild Sheep Chase, but with destructive motivation. (Actually, the chase sequence through the field reminds me vaguely of Joyce Carol Oates' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, specifically her personification of the Devil and the feelings evoked because of that character.) Anyway, we know this character, Ursula, isn't quite right.
Ursula is a fierce opponent, originally presented to us as an absolute villain. The narrator says of Ursula, further expressing Gaiman's thoughts about adulthood: "She was also an adult, and when adults fight children, adults always win." But later we learn that Ursula only cares about giving people what they want. This is clearly not a good spirited motivation as it truly means giving people what they want; probably bad things, deep dark things that people desire. All of this; in order for her to be happier. But learning this fact helps us finally understand her nature and being, even spreading money about the town caused chaos or sleeping with the narrator's father--giving the father what he wants--it is her nature.

When Ursula was destroyed, the narrator said of her "...she was the adult world with all its power and its secrets and all its foolish casual cruelty."

When the dad drowns the narrator in the bathtub but he still insists that "my father did not hit me" it further plays with the reality that Gaiman builds.
And in this moment, when Ursula locks the narrator in the room, I realize this reminds me of Coraline. I read Coraline, another of Gaiman's books, in middle school. But the fear and "other-motherness" of Ursula is familiar and adult

Harry Potter & Morality

Reading harry potter for the first time was pretty nostalgic. I remember trying to open one of my brother's Harry Potter books, I believe it was The Goblet of Fire, when I was young and being overwhelmed with the size and content. Although I read a lot when I was young I still felt I couldn’t handle Harry Potter. I watched all the movies but reading it is a completely new, fresh experience that I like. And JK Rowling's writing doesn’t feel juvenile or rushed, unlike like Akata Witch. There’s a humor to Rowling's writing, it makes me wonder how her style developed and (most likely) matured with the audience as the series went on. I'm definitely interested in finishing the series as the magic I felt while watching the movies was reignited while reading The Sorcerer's Stone.

I expected the fact that I had seen the movies to ruin my imagination while reading the book, but it only enhanced it and made me enjoy it more. Sure, it would have been nice to visualize these characters and places without any outside imagery, but I really enjoying combining what I’d seen with what I read. I was around for the Harry Potter craze, while the books were coming out, and I was 4 when I watched the first film, so I'm aware I may be associating all of these warm feelings now, 17 years later, while reading The Sorcerer's Stone. But believe me, this is not all due to nostalgia, Rowling hid some good moral lessons in her writing.

When I was younger, I was a part of the PBS crowd that watched programs such as Reading Rainbow or Between the Lions (I liked Clifford a lot too), that placed emphasis on education, reading, and interpersonal values. It may have been something my mom just put on TV, or encouraged me to watch because of my learning disability at the time, but now I can reflect and thank her for that because I believe it's part of why I enjoyed reading as a teenager and still do.

Rowling raises some questions about morality and more so the concept of power. My view is limited as I've only read one book, but these themes are still prevalent in the movies. Simple, black and white conflicts are presented at first, such as how Harry, Ron, and Hermione navigate Malfoy's jealousy and rage are handled by them being more clever. The group also defends weaker characters, like Neville and Quirrell from stronger characters. Usually these opposing characters have some sort of power and are Slytherin. We also see how Harry reconciles with the loss of his family and having to deal with his terrible surrogate family. He finds familial friendships, that only grow as the series goes on, with Ron and Hermoine. Ron is uncomfortable because of his crowded and impoverished upbringing, but he is generous to Harry because of it. Other relationships are not so clear cut, like with Snape.

From the beginning of Sorcerer's Stone (book) to nearly the end, we as the audience mistrust Snape because Harry and his friends do. We all very much see Snape as the "bad guy" and Quirrell and others as the weaker, "good" guys. But when it is revealed that Snape is not the culprit behind the strange incidents at Hogwarts and that is is Quirrell, not only is it a twist but it presents a moral dilemma. Snape is still rude to Harry; due to his misplaced contempt for his father, but he worked to keep Harry safe as he learned of Quirrell and Voldemort's plan.

Quirrell, under the control of Voldemort, comments to Harry, "There is no good or evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it…" Later, almost as a response to this, Dumbledore says that humans have an awful habit of choosing to do things that will make things worse for them. Rowling's conclusion from all of this is that power changes a person, regardless of intent. That people are not good or bad, but they do things with good or bad intentions, many times unable to see the consequences to their actions. The grey morality that Rowling presents becomes more muddled as the story progress. And in this way, Rowling's writing grows with her audience.

One note: The movie showed Harry killing Quirrell whereas in the book, Quirrell overtook Harry and he fainted. Dumbledore saves Harry moments later. However the decision to let Harry kill Quirrell; ultimately a more morally decided choice than the book, may have been something Rowling did not intend.

Lud-in-the-Mist & The (High) Fantasy Genre

So throughout my exploration into all kinds of literature I've tried to enjoy the fantasy genre and found that... I don't like it much, with few exceptions. Particularly high fantasy. It successfully makes me feel like I'm playing an in-depth RPG where I get lost in the skill trees, the intricate details, and the flowery language. All of it sets me up, but culminates to a subject with no real purpose. Therefore I chose to read Hope Mirrlees' Lud-in-the-Mist over The Hobbit as I've familiarized myself with Tolkien content over the years and feel I needed something fresh, even if it was high fantasy.

To my disappointed surprise, Lud-in-the-Mist is just as frustrating a read as any fantasy novel, only compounded by the miles of its mythological allusions and literary mazes. Mirrlees often goes into extended dry explanations and descriptions that made me wonder where the plot was going, as in where Nathaniel's allegiances lay and the nature of the town of Lud.

Upon wading through the thick explanations and flowing paragraphs, we may come to the conclusion that overall, the nature of the town of Lud is its fear of the unknown. The town is confident in its absolute averageness, it believes that this will maintain it's security. But this principle also encourages ignorance and isolation as the two countries, Fairyland and Dorimare have not communicated for centuries in any official capacity. The arrival of the fairy fruit, eaten by Nathaniel's son, further communicates this point. The people of Lud are anxious about it's arrival that even mention of it has become taboo, there are even laws set in place to ban it.

Funnily enough, the town of Lud's main economy comes from trading; an act based on communicating with other peoples and outside authorities. Lud's inability to change and refusal to accept any artistic culture in favor of the stringent rules or law and commerce only encourages the smuggling of fairy fruit. When the fruit is allowed back into Lud, it represents the healthy growth and creative change for the town of Lud.

Overall, Lud-in-the-Mist is an extended metaphor about how fear of the outside world, and the desire to remain isolated, only harbors intolerance and paranoia.

Akata Witch

I can appreciate that witches are the transition from horror to fantasy, however I've never connected with the witch genre very much but liked Akata Witch's more ethnic representation on it.

However I’m not impressed by the subject matter of Akata Witch but it's an easy read. In this youth novel there’s nothing of a broader nature really discussed either, other than embrace your imperfections and knowledge is power (and the intense hatred for cigarettes). However the Fast Facts for Free Agents “intermissions” are a nice break from the youth novel format. Granted, I probably would have enjoyed this more if I were 10 years younger.

The most remarkable thing about Akata Witch is the descriptive way that juju and the parallel, not alternate, dimension is described. The imagery is extremely vivid. The explanation of Sunny being initiated and her body coming back down to earth... I could feel that. I could feel Ekwensu arise from the earth; burrowing from the depths of an unknown Hell. However, her departure was anticlimactic and Sunny's triumph too heroic. Disappointingly, things resolved too quickly afterwards. It took the kids half an hour to get a car, half an hour to explain to the police about the missing children, and half an hour to explain to Sugar Cream...Convenient.

Although, I enjoyed some of the other worldbuilding elements, like the description of the Tungwas. These bags of flesh that serve as a random nuisance in the spirit world were interesting, and I wish this aspect of flora and fauna was explored more in the novel. Then came the description of the parallel dimension, it was playfully done. I appreciated this interaction, between the dimensions, where Leopard people can see animals/spirits within the human dimension. The scholars are probably the most fantastical element of the novel as their physical descriptions are often so exaggerated, they are surely beyond the human realm.

Something (else) that does bother me are the inconsistent rules of the other realm. Such as, not everyone is born with an imperfection or ability and the rules of Leopard people further become a little vague when we get to the Zuma festival and see an abundance of Leopard people. The festival raises questions like what is death in the leopard world? What does the afterlife consist of?

Anyhow, I really hate to have this thought about a book, but man this could absolutely be a movie. The arc, the characters' young adventures and challengers? Totally. The descriptive visuals could be brought to life for a Hunger Games-esque audience to enjoy while also promoting women with power. The emphasis placed on the community of women in Akata Witch is subtle, but important. Sunny hates her father, and it's clear that he his threatened by Sunny because of her knowledge and willingness to follow ChiChi, another girl who is unlike other young girls. Her father's disdain for her later increases as she gains knowledge from the books she’s reading, but her brothers continue to embrace her. It's also clear where her mother's loyalties lie, as she is said to only yell at the boys as Sunny's father only yells at her.

Sugar Cream's character, and the other high-level Leopard women, are also good examples to Sunny of strong women. But they're not written that way, they're written like normal characters, that have skills and power. Another lesson taught is that financial gain, or greed, is not the way of a Leopard person. Then the novel ends with Sunny reading the letter from her grandmother; a woman massacred by a man enraged with finding power through unholy means.