The Angel's Game

Photo taken by Ms. C.  

I am the first to admit that I do not quite understand Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Angel's Game.  The novel centers around David Martin, a conflicted writer, and a series of spooky, sinister events - that I can assure you is correct.  However, much of the plot has left me unsure of what truly happened.

Twilight: New Moon

Awhile back I read and reviewed the first installment of Twilight (you can read it here).  I found the first book so addictive that I had to borrow K's copy of New Moon a few weeks later.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Photo taken by Ms. C

I spent a good part of last year browsing bookstores, finding Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, thinking it sounded like an excellent read... but ultimately returning it to its store shelf.  It cost $20 and I couldn't justify buying it.  Flash-forward to a few months ago, and a copy of Bender's work was held tightly in my hands.  After looking and waiting for a copy for *so* long I decided to give it a shot.

Bender tells the story of Rose, a young girl, who can taste emotions in her food.  It is with only one bite of a lemon and chocolate cake that Rose discovers her mother's, the cake chef's, depression.  Bender explores Rose's childhood, family turmoil, and her unique ability to trace emotions in food within this work.

Why Men Love Bitches

Argov's Why Men Love Bitches is one of those non-fiction, self-help-y books that circles of female friends often pass around.  I remember my friend recommended it to me years ago. If I must guess it was around early 2007 when she burst into my workplace claiming that I had to read this book... it was just that good.  And, with  a title like its own, I clearly remember the first day it was introduced to me.

But, what was all the fuss about?

Argov claims that women all-too-often become dependent and much too obliging to the men they date.  Argov suggests that men will have fun with the gals who are that way... but they won't keep them.  Who do men fall in love with?  Bitches.  Not the girl who gives everything up, but the girl who stands her ground, is independent, and has respect for her body and mind.

Vanishing Acts

People say that you should venture outside of your comfort zone. Try something new, try something that has never really attracted you. You never know what you are missing until you've given it a little taste.

I've avoided reading Jodi Picoult for many, many years. I have glanced at the summaries of her novels - mostly, it seems, containing plots of court cases (ie: murders, child sexual abuse) and other high-drama situations. To be blunt, I'm not into law stories. However, I found Picoult's Vanishing Acts gleaming on a bookstore's shelf and I thought it was high time I gave her work a shot.

Vanishing Acts confronts issues of memory, loss, addiction, and the reinvention of identity. Picoult provides readers with the tale of a father who kidnaps his daughter from his divorced wife. She provides reasons to justify the Father's behaviour, but ultimately leaves it to the reader to determine the gallantry of his actions.

Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge 2011 - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

My second Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge 2011 book comes in the form of Robert Louis Stevenson's dark tale The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Written in 1884, Stevenson's novel is short and addictive. You've been warned.

Dawn

Yesterday, I finished reading Elie Wiesel's Dawn. It is a short read of just over one hundred pages, and yet I found myself continually putting the book down and walking away. One hundred pages in three days, I almost feel ashamed... almost.

Dawn chronicles the lasting effects of the Holocaust for Elisha, an eighteen year old Jewish freedom fighter assigned to kill an English officer in Palestine. Wiesel's work is highly metaphorical, strongly emotional, and exceedingly dark. Wiesel parallels the actions of freedom fighters in Palestine to the atrocities of the Holocaust. Notions of murder and humanity echo within both Wiesel's portrayals of Elisha's exposure to Nazi atrocities in a concentration camp and the actions of Jewish freedom fighters in 1940s Palestine.

Safe Haven

I bought Nicholas Sparks' newest novel, Safe Haven, when it was first released in September 2010. My university studies meant that I wasn't able to crack open the book until recently. Let's just say that I spent a good few months staring wistfully at the novel's spine in my bookcase. But, after finally completing the read, I'm not even sure where to start with my review.

Two days ago I had no intention to write a review for this book. Actually, a hour ago I thought this was a quick little read before I ventured into more hard-hitting literary work. Seems I was mistaken.

How Fantasy Becomes Reality

Has a book every shaped how you feel about or behave in society?

In How Fantasy Becomes Reality: Seeing Through Media Influence social psychologist Karen E. Dill argues just this. She claims that people chose to believe, instead of critically examining, what they read. She suggests that people often get lost in a storyline and acquire the beliefs of its main characters.

As an avid reader, I too have been caught up in a storyline and have invented my own similarities with a main character. For example, when I was young I used to read The X-Files books non-stop... and then I decided I wanted to be a pathologist just like Scully. Well, that didn't turn out.

There are larger implications with reading, too. Past psychological studies purport that a positive correlation exists between reading romance novels and not using condoms - thus increasing your chances of STDs and a whole host of other problems (Dill, 13).

Reading a book on a new-to-you culture can leave you with either negative or positive opinions on a group of people... which can lead to the formation of stereotypes and impact how you behave towards others. It is imperative to read multiple viewpoints and to always think critically.

Dill argues that we have a tendency to believe what we read, even when it is near impossible for what we read to be true. Remember the hype for the release of the last Harry Potter book? I'm sure it is near impossible for any of us to forget. Dill claims that the massive turnouts the for release of Harry Potter books occurred because Harry is real to readers. I'll let Dill explain:

[Readers] know he's not sitting in a castle somewhere in England. Yes, they know people can't really shoot lightening bolts out of a magic wand... But J.K. Rowling is one of the richest women in the world because she's made characters and situations that are so human and meaningful to us that we choose to hold them in our mind's eye as real, even though part of us knows they are not real in the mundane sense. I guarantee you, for many people in the world, Harry Potter is more real than their own next-door neighbor (Dill 84).

The sad thing is that Harry Potter, and other literary figures at that, are a lot more real than some of the people I bump into on a regular basis. Perhaps I read too much?


Dill's work is very broad. Here are just a few more interesting points:
- On average, Americans spend 2/3 of their waking lives consuming mass media (I think this would apply to Canadians as well).
- Media capitalizes on how our minds function - people are unaware of the effects of exposure to media as the mind is largely unconscious.
- The results from eating food high in fat are not immediate - eat a piece of cheesecake and you don't automatically gain 10 pounds. How people consume and are affected by media works in a similar fashion. After playing a violent video game you don't immediately go outside and punch that annoying neighbor of yours square on the nose... but add up a decent amount of exposure to media that portrays violence and you'll be more prone to act aggressively.
- Exposure to degrading music (ie - violent, racist, or sexist lyrics) is correlated to individuals engaging in sexual activity at a younger age.
- Video games are highly stereotypical. Currently the overwhelming majority of victims in games, or the bad guys the gamer is sent out to kill, are Muslim.
- Female bodies are disproportionately presented in both video games and films for children. For example, if "Lara Croft were real, she couldn't do the athletic tricks she does in the game - she'd be lucky to be able to stand up with those huge breasts! And if Disney's Princess Jasmine were real, we'd probably find her alarming because her eyes are bigger than her waist." (Dill, 134-135).
- Media can be helpful - journalists have brought attention to domestic violence which has led to increasing amounts of attendance at shelters.


Overall, Dill argues that we need to be critical of what we view in the media. Media is created by big businesses who wish to sell products, not to entertain people. We need to be aware of the impact of exposure to the media. We can still watch our films and television, play video games, and surf the Internet... just be sure to incorporate real-life activities into your life like sports, arts and crafts, or even picking up a book.

The bottom line?
Awareness of what you consume is key.

Matters of the Heart

One of my friends recently recommended reading Danielle Steel's Matters of the Heart. She claimed that it was the best Steel book she had ever read. According to her it was a page turner, suspenseful, and a novel she couldn't stop reading even on her honeymoon this past June. With that kind of acclaim I had to give the book a shot.

Taking my friend's word, I began to read the book on an early flight out of Vancouver. I did manage to finish the book yesterday though I read the majority during my flights.

I must admit that at first I was a bit skeptical of this novel. I am an avid reader of Steel but I find her work repetitive. How many times does she have to reword the same sentence, allude to certain plot twists, or repeatedly mention a character's wealth? To me a Steel book has always been a source of cheap entertainment. Her work can be engaging, fun, and romantic... but it is not a ground shattering, award-winning piece of fiction by any means.

Matters of the Heart did live up to my friends praises. Steel expertly creates a love story between an isolated, but intelligent and well-balanced, woman and a sociopathic man. She illustrates the traumas of being in a physically and psychologically abusive relationship. Her descriptions are vivid, intense, and original. And, most importantly, she creates a fast paced and non-repetitive tale. This book manages to escape the downfall of many Steel novels, that being repetitive descriptions and dialogue.

Interestingly, the sociopathic man in Steel's work is portrayed as an acclaimed writer. Steel links the man's unbalanced behaviour to his writing by stating "it was why he wrote the books he did, all those dark characters lived in his head, and were different sides of him, the ones that didn't show" (Steel, p 275).

This reminded me of our previous discussion on how a library relates to one's personality.
Just how personal is a work of fiction?

Having written a little bit of fiction myself, I do believe that writing style and theme are more intricately connected to someone's personality than the books they store on a shelf. Writing comes from within a person and is a direct expression of their thoughts, censored or uncensored.

But even the notion that what someone writes reflects their own character is troublesome. Does that mean Steel is prone to affairs or Stephen King has murderous tendencies? The psychology behind writing is an interesting topic that I would like to explore.

Overall, Steel's novel is enthralling. Though a significantly darker tale, Steel maintains her tradition of captivating the audience and producing a quick read despite its many pages. I would recommend Matters of the Heart to those who are already familiar with Steel's work... and those, who like me, had become tired of her repetitive writing style.