The Magicians by Lev Grossman

The Magicians by Lev Grossman is the story of Quentin Clearwater, a high school senior in Brooklyn who is bored and depressed with his life. He tries to make his dreary existence a little better by escaping into a series of books about the magical land of Fillory. He becomes so obsessed that he even learns how to do magic tricks. Then one day he gets a mysterious transcript of the unpublished fifth book in the Fillory series which leads him to the real life magical academy of Brakebills. Following a very long and difficult exam he gets accepted into the school and starts learning real magic. Imagine if a person obsessed with the Chronicles of Narnia was accepted to Hogwarts. It completely turns his life around. But Brakebills is not quite the magic he was hoping for. It is a world of arrogance, hedonism, and excess. The characters are constantly unhappy and turning to sex, drugs, and alcohol. And even becoming a real magician can’t make Quentin happy. And just when he thinks he hits rock bottom, that’s when Quentin and his friends find out that not only is Fillory real how to get there. When they arrive they go in search of an adventure that will make it all worthwhile and better, but not even that is what they hoped for.

I’m generally not a fan of books that take a long time to pick up in terms of the action. And while the first 250 pages are devoted to explaining Quentin’s rather mundane magical education, there is no lack of storytelling. There are brief periods of action, like when a terrifying creature from another dimension shows up in the middle of their class, the school wide welters tournament (which is a game sort of like a magical version of chess where they are the pieces), and when Quentin and the fourth years go for a “semester abroad” to Antarctica. And even without little action there was a lot of anticipation. I spent a long time waiting for everything, which I knew was going to go down, to actually happen. And just when I couldn’t take the build-up any longer the action came.

Generally, however, the story is less about the action and more about the characters. The characters are believable in their flawed humanity. Quentin’s main character trait is his perpetual unhappiness, even when he gets his heart’s desire it seems inadequate. Then there is shy and intelligent Alice who prefers to have her nose in a book at all times and excels at magic, the aloof and magically-gifted Eliot whose superiority complex Quentin finds endearing, overly competitive and loud Janet, and Josh the large and not as gifted member of their crew who always feels inadequate next to the rest. Each with their strengths and weaknesses make them fully-formed realistic people that remind me of people I know and traits in my personality that I may or may not like. I became very invested and attached to the characters and their exploits.

While The Magicians references many other well known fantasy series including Harry Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, Lord of the Rings, and The Wizard of Oz, it is not the fantasy novel of our childhoods. It is much more adult. It is a darker, rawer, and grittier view of magic. Often times turning the idea that magic can save and make everything better on its head. Learning real magic doesn’t make Quentin’s life better, in fact it may even make it worse. Like all other fantasy books little things mentioned off hand became big things affecting the final outcome. When everything was said and done I was just as depressed as Quentin. When it was over I found myself wanting more because not all the questions were answered and I’m secretly hoping when the next book comes out it will have a happy ending (though I doubt it). All things consider, I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it to anyone who is an avid fantasy fan.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah’s Key is the story of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in Paris. She is given as an assignment the commemoration of the Vel’ d’Hiv’ on its sixtieth anniversary, something that she knew nothing about. I regrettable admit that I know nothing about it myself (and as a modern history major in college focusing on the post WWII era that is surprising). Anyway she starts investigating and learns all about this dark time in French history where the Vichy government (the fascist regime in charge) instructs the French police to go door-to-door to round up the Jewish families living in the Paris suburbs. They were arrested and imprisoned in the stadium Velodrome D’Hiver (Vel’ d’Hiv’) in appalling conditions before being shipped to holding camps where the parents were separated from the kids all of whom eventually sent directly to Auschwitz. While she investigates, Julia learns that her aloof French husband’s family is somehow connected with the second protagonist, Sarah, a young Jewish girl who is arrested in the Vel’ d’Hiv round-up. Sarah intent on protecting her brother locks him in a cupboard promising she will be back for him. But as time goes by she realizes that is less and less likely unless she can break out of the camp and find her way back to Paris. Julia becomes engrossed in nothing but learning all about Sarah and telling her about how her in-laws helped her. The more she learns, the more her personal life falls apart.

So when I originally picked this book up I thought it fit the mold of most books I read: historical fiction and mystery. But the more I read the book became less mysterious and more emotional. It was like reading someone’s depressing family history, in a good way. I became invested in these characters, and found myself constantly reading so that I could learn more about what would happen to Sarah, her brother, and Julia. New and sad developments threw me for a loop. I almost cried at one point. It truly was an emotional masterpiece. It really captures the terror and atrocity that these families went through.

The book brings up a big debate that many European people have faced over the past seventy years. Is it better to remember or to forget? There is a line in the book that states “no one wants to be reminded of that, nobody wants to think about that.” And while that is true, and to use an old cliché ignorance is bliss, but how can those who were affected by such tragedies easily forget. It took decades for the governments of these countries to admit to their parts in these atrocities of humanity. Another theme that the book centers upon is the need to make right the errors of the past, to somehow make up for what was done and your part in it, whatever that may be.

This book not only explains the terrible events of the Vel’ D’Hiv and the Vichy government but does it in a way so emotionally charged it’s hard to forget. It is told almost effortlessly and reads more like a journal than a fictional story. The beginning is a little bit annoying as it switches back and forth between Julia and Sarah, but by page 160 it focuses entirely on Julia and her search for Sarah. While it is truly heartbreaking at times, I recommend this book to all students of history who want to learn about a terrible time in the past, especially if you have an interest in World War II or the Holocaust. Again with the clichés, those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it.

Speaking with the Angel

A collection of short stories compiled and edited by Nick Hornby. I don’t know why I continuously try to read short story collections. I rarely finish them, and rarely enjoy them. Maybe it’s because I need to get more invested in a story to enjoy it. I don’t like first impressions or quick meetings. Essentially that is what a short story is, a quick first impression of a story or author. Sure, they are complete stories with beginnings, middles, and ends just shorter. It’s not that I crave more, it’s just I don’t enjoy them as much as a really meaty novel. It’s like having a dinner full of appetizers; it’s just not as satisfying.

But I read it anyway. I got Speaking with the Angels at a used book store for only a dollar (sweet deal, right) and I thought I’d give it a try. I like many of the authors who contributed to the books. Hornby, Dave Eggers, Zadie Smith, and Helen Fielding included. Plus there is a story written by Colin Firth. I didn’t know he could write (I mean I knew he played an author in Love, Actually but those are not transferable skills). Plus the stores had really fun sounding titles (Nipple Jesus, Luckybitch, Catholic Guilt (You know You Love It) among them.

Some stories were pretty good. I liked the one by Dave Eggers entitled “After I Was Thrown Into the River and Before I Drowned.” It’s about a dog, told from the dogs perspective. It was interesting and creative. The one by Colin Firth was good too. It was told from the perspective of a young boy about “The Department of Nothing.”

There were also bad stories. One called “The Slave” was so boring I stopped reading it part way through. Also “Catholic Guilt” was written in British slang, in what I’m taking to be a Scottish Accent. And being not British I was taken completely out of the story which I probably otherwise would have enjoyed. Mostly the stories were just dull and not memorable. I don’t remember what they were about, let alone if I liked them.

If you like short stories then I say, definitely read this book. Otherwise, I say avoid it. If you’re like me and you enjoy these authors then just get their actual books. The book however is for a good cause. Nick Hornby compiled the book to benefit a school for autistic children in London. A dollar for every book goes directly to the school. Get the book for no other reason than that.

A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire

First off, let me say, it’s been forever since I last posted. It’s not that I haven’t been reading. I have. I just haven’t finished a book. I know that’s probably worse. I tried to finish a collection of short stories by Gogol which I can’t seem to ever really finish. I started reading the Stephanie Plum book from last summer which I then lost. I started reading a collection of short stories compiled by Nick Hornby, which I also lost (and then found so hopefully I will finish it soon). Then I got Little Women at a used book store and destroyed the book with rain, snow, and coffee. My new job makes it increasingly difficult to read. Enter a five day vacation for Christmas which included two three hour train rides and two six hour drives. Not to mention four new books.

A Lion Among Men was one of those new books (my favorite one I got, mostly because it came as a surprise. I don’t remember ever asking for it or even mentioning I wanted to read it to anyone). This is the third book in the Wicked Years series and as the title may suggest, it is the true story of the Cowardly Lion. It is also very much about Mother Yackle, the mysterious old woman who always seems to be lurking around the series. The book picks up eight years after the events of Son of A Witch amidst the war between the Free State of Munchkinland and Loyal Oz. Mother Yackle is ready to die and is placed in the crypt of the Cloister of Saint Galinda in the Shale Shallows (a central location for many important happenings of the series). A year and a half later however she comes out of the crypt just as alive as she went in with the arrival of Brrr, the Cowardly Lion (a capital L because he talks). He has come as an emissary of the court in Emerald City to interview her about her connection with Elphaba and Liir. Yackle, however, being shrewd and pragmatic as much as she is mysterious offers Brrr a trade. If he tells her his life story including his shames she will answer his questions. With a little probing and some well placed questions (probably a little magic too) she gets him to spill his deepest darkest shames which he had repressed for years. We learn how Brrr got from shivering in a cage at Shiz University to the court investigator we see today. This includes his childhood in the Gillikin forest, how he came to be known as The Cowardly Lion, how and why he joined Dorothy on her quest, and what happened to him after she left Oz. We also learn why he is in the employ of the arguably evil Apostle Emperor (Shell Throppe, Elphaba’s brother) and what he is truly after. We also learn much more about Mother Yackle including how she came to be and why she was always on the outskirts of Elphaba and Liir’s life. Both have compelling and interesting histories.

The book explores many of the same themes as the other two Wicked books. With any revisionist view on a story the over-arching theme is always did the main character get a bad rap? Did Elphaba deserve to be called Wicked? Did Brrr deserve to be called Cowardly? We grow attached to the hopeless Lion who seems to always get a raw deal and can never see anything through to the end, “running away” when things get difficult. He views them as shames of his life. No discussion of cowardess is complete, however, without the underlying idea of morality. What makes a person courageous? Is it cowardly to lie down in the face of war (that’s how Brrr got his nickname)? Did Brrr do the right thing with the wrong circumstances? You be the judge. With the secondary back-story of Mother Yackle we explore the idea of fate. Why was she in Oz on the outskirts of Elphaba and Liir’s life? Why can’t she die? Are there things she was sent here to accomplish? Then the ever present Clock of the Time Dragon shows up to answer many of these questions.

I really liked this book. I was slightly disenfranchised with the series because of Son of A Witch but this one definitely reinstated my interest. Perhaps it is because it is with a familiar character that you have an attachment to. Who knows? Much of the criticism of the first two books is that they are long and slow. They are difficult to get through. This is not Harry Potter we’re talking about. It is a much more adult view of the classic story. I didn’t feel at all that this book was difficult (I felt that especially about Son of A Witch). The world is established by now and the confusing elements are gone. Maguire no longer needs to set the scene for the reader, so perhaps that is why it was an easier read. Not to mention now that the story is winding down he can answer questions instead of asking them. I liked the fact that it included elements and characters from both previous books and answered a few questions left hanging. It inspired me to reread both books. I remember very little from Wicked (it was years ago that I read it) and maybe I should give Son of A Witch a second chance. Not to mention, I cannot wait for the next book to come out. There are so many unanswered questions still. What happened to Liir and his baby (a green girl like Elphaba)? What happened to Ozma, will she return when Oz most needs her like the prophecy says? The fourth book, who’s working title is Out of Oz, may be about Glinda. I have a few ideas as to her backstory thanks to this book.

I definitely recommend reading A Lion Among Men. And if you have not read (or finished reading) Wicked do that first. Read the series, it’s worthwhile.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

One of the two magic related books I bought at Borders recently. I felt a little self-concious and awkward like the chick who rung me out was judging me for buying two books relating to witches and wizards. But you know I’m an awkward human being in general and I over think everything so she probably didn’t even notice. I guess my Harry Potter fixation extends to other literary ventures.

Anyway, this one is about a girl, Connie, who is studying for her PhD in Colonial History at Harvard. She inherits or rather is instructed to fix up an old house in Marblehead and by old I mean early 17th Century. She is cleaning the house and finds an old bible with a key inside of it. Inside the key is a name: Deliverance Dane. She investigates and finds out that Deliverance was an accused witch who hanged in the Salem Witch Trials and finds that she had a physick book which contained spells or potions directions. Long story short… she finds a previously unknown accused witch who was an actual witch. So she goes on the hunt for this book for her dissertation. The book goes back and forth between Connie and Deliverance and her descendants as we learn about the book and the magic they are capable of.

It was an interesting concept, the idea that there was an actual witch who was accused at the Salem trials. Not to mention I’m all for the combination of history and a mystical element. The magic here was what is known as vernacular magic or folk magic. It’s not so much about magical spells or “silly wand waving” as Snape would say. It’s more about potions and enchantments to help people. It sprang from the concept of the cunning woman who was sort of like the town healer (think that scene in The Princess Bride where they take Wesley to the wizard who declares him “mostly dead” and gives him a cure). The book looked at an interesting and arguably more accurate view of the witch trials. No not that there were real witches, though there were cunning folk, just the motivation and process behind the witch trials. I learned a lot about that time in history from this book.

As historical fiction, the historical part was spot on but what was lacking, however, was the fiction part. It was a pretty simple read to be honest and lacked a lot of the drama and suspense that I was hoping for. It had brief moments but they were far and few between. The back of the book compared it to The Historian, a book which I adore, but this one didn’t compare at all. They also tried to include some romance which seemed forced, there seemed little purpose for it here. It wasn’t a bad book, I just wasn’t impressed. Even the mystery was lacking. There were parts that were way too easy to figure out and others that they didn’t touch on at all. I would have liked to have been able to figure out for myself where the book was hidden but they insulted my intelligence and didn’t let me. In fact in general I felt like this book insulted my intelligence. I was a history major and I love solving mysteries and suspense. Also a minor issue I had was the flashbacks included a lot of writing that was meant to be in the Boston vernacular (replacing r’s with h’s for the accent). I mean I live in New England and I’m all for the accent but it was just confusing and made it needlessly harder to read.

I liked the book. It was okay. I was just a little disappointed. I had high hopes and it didn’t live up to it.

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

This is the second in the Millenium Series (the first being The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo which I read in the winter. My brief review is in the four months of catchup post). It picks up with Lisbeth Salander (the girl) in the Carribbean taking it easy thanks to her recent activities. Mikael Blomkvist meanwhile is back at Millenium working on a magazine issue and a book relating to human trafficking and the sex slave business in Sweden. When the book’s author, his wife (who was doing a dissertation on the sex trade), and Lisbeth’s guardian all turn up dead in a single night all signs point to her as the killer. Mikael however doesn’t believe her to be guilty and investigates who else could have killed them and would want to frame Lisbeth. The book delves much deeper into Lisbeth’s history and we learn a lot about how she got to be the way she is. We learn how she got the nickname Wasp, why she was declared incompetent, and much more.

The book took me awhile to get into. The whole first third is about Lisbeth on vacation and buying new stuff to start over and Mikael editing this book and wondering what happened to her. I really could have done without a lot of this. It seemed unimportant (who knows it may come into play later) and at the end I was remembering the beginning and how it had nothing to do with the main storyline. The real meaty part of it, when we get into the mystery, doesn’t start until around page 215. But when it did finally pickup it was non-stop excitement. There were so many twists and turns that I spent a lot of it rereading passages just to figure out what had happened. It was also much more suspenseful than the first book. It was a real page-turner, which is such a cliché statement but absolutely true. I did not want to put it down. It took me six weeks to read the first 200 pages and a week to read the rest of it (its 725 pages).

I also have to say that it leads to some times of confusion but one of the things I really like about these books is that it is told from many different perspectives. We don’t just hear about what is happening from Lisbeth or Mikael, but a combination of the two and a myriad of other characters. I think that is really refreshing when it comes to mystery novels. It’s not just told from one character’s perspective with whom we have to follow along with as they try to put clues together. We get a whole bunch of different pieces and perspectives. I think it helps you come up with more substantial possibilities. In the first book I figured out a key part of the mystery and the same was the case in this one. I actually figured out a lot of this one but there were still surprises. I’m pretty sure the last twenty pages I had mouth hanging open and I definitely cannot wait to read the third one (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest).

On the whole it was very good. I definitely recommend it, especially if you like mysteries. Maybe it was because one of the perspectives it was told from was the police or just that it is more sensational but this one seemed very much to me like an episode of Law and Order. I can really see it making a good movie. On that note… they are making these books into movies staring Daniel Craig as Mikael. Which honestly I think is brilliant casting. I think he has the right amount of smarts and brooding to pull it off. I’m waiting to hear who they get to play Lisbeth. I’m not all that impressed with the rumored options (Carey Mulligan, Ellen Page, Kiera Knightley, seriously?) and they better not screw this up. Also I am a little confused because there are Swedish version already. I've seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and it’s pretty good. It’s on Netflix instant. They did change a few things around (like making two characters one) but in general they stuck to the main storyline. They did also add a small part in that gave a major thing about the second book away. Maybe that is why I figured a lot out?

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius... the title says it all.

I’m not a fan of non-fiction. Whether it’s about a particular event, place or person it always feels to me like reading a textbook. I didn’t read my textbooks when I had to… why should I read them for pleasure? The last two I tried reading I gave up on very quickly (Lost City of Z, When You Are Engulfed in Flames). I had heard good things about this one (Dave Eggers is one of the “stuff white people like”) and I got the book at a used book store for $5.70 (it was originally $6.50 but the guy wouldn’t bargain down to $5 even though it had coffee stains). I actually liked it.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers is a memoir of the author’s life. As it begins his mother is dying of cancer. It truly is heartbreaking learning all the gory details of her last days and her illness. While that is happening there are some flashbacks where you learn that recently his father died of cancer as well. So now an orphan, Dave inherits his little brother Toph who is eight years old. The two along with his sister move to California to start over. He creates this fledgling indie magazine and raises his brother in a bachelor lifestyle in the 90’s.

There are some funny parts like when they’re trying to go to an Open House at Toph’s school, and Toph isn’t dressed appropriately and they end up late which is a common occurrence for them. It is also sometimes confusing because he incorporate a lot of dream sequences and exaggerates scenes. He changes people’s names and even some things that they do or how they’re connected. Like there are two real people who he writes about that didn’t know each other at all but he uses one of them so that he knows about the other’s goings on. He did this to make vague who the real person is because the character is depressed and suicidal and the author seems to be the only one to talk him down. All of this is explained in the preface which I didn’t read until the end. There are some parts which drag on and seem a little disconnected to the story. For example, Dave auditions for The Real World San Francisco. I was really pumped for this part having been a Real World fan back in the day. But the interview seems to take forever and he is seriously trying way too hard to seem jaded and damaged so he can get on the show.

But in general the book was what the title said, heartbreaking and genius. Unlike most non-fiction and memoirs I’ve read it didn’t read like a textbook. It was entertaining and a pretty fast read (although I did lose the book and have to go to Borders two separate times to finish it so it took me a little longer). And it was not at all pretentious like David Sedaris. I cared about what happened to the people in this book and I didn’t feel like he was trying to shove down my throat that he leads an interesting life that I should care about. I recommend it if you haven’t already read this book which it seems like a lot of people have.

I also reread The Twilight Saga Eclipse in anticipation for the movie coming out. I’m not a diehard TwiHard (as the fans are called) but Eclipse was my favorite of the books and the movie looks fantastic. I hear it’s much better than the first two. I am totally Team Jacob. Edward is way to over-protective and he doesn’t seem to really trust Bella or respect her opinions. However rereading the book I began to feel that way a little less. I do however hate Bella even more. She gives in to him way to easily. Like even when she does decide what she wants (sex) he is easily able to talk her out of that and into what he wants (marriage) and their whole idea of that being a compromise is so messed up. I also became more frustrated with Jacob. His desperation is annoying. The whole argument between Edward and Jacob before the fight is ridiculous. Jacob says he will kill himself because Bella won’t choose him and then she makes out with him and says that she loves him too. No wonder he sticks around and hopes that she will change her mind. Bella is a tease! How can she tell him that she loves him but she’s choosing Edward. I want to puke all over her stupid face! I think I’m changing my allegiance… Team Seth!! He’s just precious and so funny!

Finally, I know this isn’t a book but it is literally related. The first official trailer came out for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! It looks FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! I so cannot wait. The trailer showed some major scenes. The escape from Privet Drive, the break-in to Gringotts and the Ministry, the destruction of the locket, a lot of the final fight scenes at Hogwarts, and so much more. It is masterfully shot, emotional, the acting is stellar, the special effects are beautiful, and it looks like they’re sticking to the books. Although the other movies left so much out I wonder how much they can include without it seeming to be pulled out of thin air. There is some controversy about the fact that Hermione’s hands which were once bloody are now clean and people thinking they’re cutting a lot of the violence out. But I can’t see how they can but then again you never know. I cannot wait to see it. Part one comes out in a little under five months. I included a link if you haven’t seen it check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EC2tmFVNNE