Remembrance Day Review: "Heroes", by Robert Cormier

Title: Heroes

Author: Robert Cormier

Format: Paperback

Pages: 144

Publisher: Laurel Leaf

Published: February 2000 (First Published 1998)

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

Francis Joseph Cassavant is eighteen. He has just returned home from the Second World War, and he has no face. He does have a gun and a mission: to murder his childhood hero.

Francis lost most of his face when he fell on a grenade in France. He received the Silver Star for bravery, but was it really an act of heroism? Now, having survived, he is looking for a man he once admired and respected, a man adored by many people, a man who also received a Silver Star for bravery. A man who destroyed Francis's life.

Review

As it's Remembrance Day, I thought I'd do a (very short) post about a truly amazing book. Once upon a time, in my former life as a teacher, I had the pleasure of teaching this book as a GCSE text, and I loved the experience. The book follows Francis, a young man whose endeavours in WWII left him with a Silver Star and a dreadfully deformed face. The book begins:

"My name is Francis Joseph Cassavant and I have just returned to Frenchtown in Monument and the war is over and I have no face."

How's that for an opening line? In just one sentence, Cormier establishes setting, introduces character and creates a sense of intrigue. The lack of punctuation indicates Cassavant's loss of control and his somewhat desperate state of mind. It's in this style that Cormier packs so much into this fairly slim tome. 

This is one of those books which demonstrates just how powerful writing for young adults can be. This book deals with love, war, betrayal, abuse, identity, heroism, community, youth... and so much more. 

Like I said, this is a short post. I'm just dipping my toe in the blogging waters as I've been awayfor a while. Instead of a lengthy write up. I made this as an intro to the book, back in my teaching days. I hope you enjoy, for the song if nothing else!

REVIEW: "The Name of the Wind", by Patrick Rothfuss.

Title: The Name of the Wind

Author: Patrick Rothfuss

Publisher: Orion

Narrated By: Rupert Degas

Audible Release Date: 6th March 2012

Runtime: 28 hrs and 9 mins  
[Dead-Tree book release date: 2007, by DAW Hardcover]

Synopsis

Taken from Audible

'I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me'

So begins the tale of Kvothe - now an unassuming innkeepter - from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, through his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In part one you will come to know Kvothe the notorious magician, the accomplished thief, the masterful musician, the dragon-slayer, the legend-hunter, the lover, the thief and the infamous assassin.

Review

It is a rare thing to encounter a perfect book, but when you do it's a double edged sword. On the one hand, you've discovered a story which consumes you and characters who seem so real that you half expect them to walk into your living room, pour themselves some tea and muddy your carpets with the dirt from their adventurous boot-heels. On the other hand, when the story ends, you miss these perfectly-drawn characters as much as you would a friend. The perfect writing is so delicate and so clear that all other prose seems clunky and unrefined. Therein lies the rusty edge of the sword. 

I suppose a perfect book is much like finding a perfect lover. While they may ... ahem... rock your world while you have the means to enjoy them; while they may inspire you, fill you with joy and show you what perfection means, once the torrid affair ends, all other lovers seem rather lacking by comparison. As far as this metaphor goes, listening to the audiobook recording of The Name of the Wind is like spending a long, languorous evening with Apollo. However, since finishing this book, I've read several others and, now that I've enjoyed perfection, I've found that other books seem awkward, elbowy, brief and... unsatisfying.

The narrative of the book is largely in the retrospective first person, from the point of view of Kvothe, the protagonist of the tale. There are also interjections of third-person narrative which focus on the events of Kvothe's immediate life. Both perspectives have much to offer. In the first person, Kvothe's story is a bildungsroman which details his humble beginnings and fellows his life through to his fame and notoriety as a hero of legend. In the third person, we see Kvothe as a man who is still young in years (he is described as being in his twenties), but who also seems aged and worn. He hides behind an alias and has assumed the life of a small-town inn-keeper. But there are still hints of strangeness and otherworldly goings on in his new, quieter life of obscurity. 

The plot is dense and brilliantly crafted. The world is believable and its magic (known as "sympathy") is so excellently imagined that I'm almost surprised that it isn't a reality! The wealth of characters are all intimately drawn and unique. Even the more subordinate characters come to life in Rothfuss' pages. 

As well as praising Patrick Rothfuss' superlative writing, I just have to give a shout-out to the narrative skills of Rupert Degas. He takes the vibrancy of Rothfuss' characters and gives them the final breath of life. He makes their hearts beat and gives each their own unique personality and voice. Even great books can be ruined by bad narration. Thankfully, Degas takes an already great book and manages to make it even better. 

The Name of The Wind is book one in the Kingkiller Chronicles and its narrative details the first of a three day discussion of Kvothe's life to Chronicler, a historian sent to find out about the hero of legend. Book Two (detailing the second day) is also available and my review is coming soon! Unfortunately, there's no publication date available for the final part of the trilogy and I have no idea how I'm going to cope with the agony of waiting for news and for the book itself!

There are just some books in this world which must be read and I can't believe how long this one eluded me. While the fantasy genre comes with some stigma attached, please do not let preconceptions put you off. This isn't just a great book "for it's genre", but a great book full stop. If I could give it a million stars then I would. As that would leave my rating system otherwise meaningless, however, I'll settle on five stars!

REVIEW: "Into The Wild", by Jon Krakauer

Title: Into The Wild

Author: John Krakauer

Narrator: Philip Franklin

Length: 7 hours and 9 minutes

Audible Release Date: 2nd August 2007

Publisher: Random House Audio

Synopsis

Taken from Audible

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. His body - along with a camera with five rolls of film, an SOS note, and a cryptic diary written in the back pages of a book about edible plants - was found six months later by a hunter.

Review

Into The Wild, by John Krakauer, was my second venture into the land of the non-fiction audiobook. My first was a disappointing expedition which you can read about here. This time, however, I was pleasantly surprised. 

This book is a kind of semi-biography of Chris McCandless, a young man who was looking to get away from too-civilised society and wander into the wilderness. Krakauer's narrative of McCandless' last months is a piecing together of letters, postcards, interviews and notes scrawled in the margin of a book about edible plants. Despite the somewhat scattered threads, Krakauer manages to sew together a tale which is both incredibly inspiring and sadly cautionary. 

Readers of this book will, I imagine, fall into one of two camps. One group will see McCandless as an ungrateful fool who didn't make the most of the privileged situation into which he was born. Yes, he gave his money to charity, but it could be argued that someone with McCandless' brains and education could have made more of a difference to the world around him if he had used his idealism and tenacity (and that $25,000) to benefit others instead of indulging his desires to be an intrepid explorer.

The other camp will admire McCandless' daring willingness to live a life less ordinary. He wanted to do something so he did it. He wanted a different kind of life and wished for a different kind of world, and did all he could to make these things a reality. That's a noble ideal, right? Brave even. But also, yes, undoubtedly selfish and somewhat foolhardy.

I find myself with a foot in each of the camps. I understand McCandless' thinking. He was looking for an adventure, for a new and more poignant existence in some untamed part of the world. Unfortunately, he was looking for the sort of adventure that just isn't possible now. There are no blank spots on the map. No "Here be dragons" marking the far reaches. McCandless' desire to explore was like that of a boy who's watched a lot of adventure movies... 

You really need to read this to decide which camp you fall into. It might be easy to judge the man's notions and ideals based upon a few tabloid news reports and a movie, but Krakauer's narrative adds a depth and reason to the last days of final McCandliss' life. He could have chosen a better adventure. He should have taken measures to ensure that his need for change wouldn't have hurt those who cared about him. But he was also willing to "be the change". In my mind, that made him special. 

A Triumphant Return And Some Great News!

Hello there, my lovely readers! 

I know, I know... it's been a while hasn't it? I've been a bit rubbish about updating recently and for that I apologise. Sometimes life has a way of taking over and forcing us to prioritise our to-do lists, doesn't it? 

Lots of changes have occurred in Lauraland, but now I'm back on the blog and I fully intend to stay here! I've read a whole bunch of great books in my absence so will be blogging about them soon. I guess I'll have some updating to do with the different challenges I'm a part of too. If you're keeping score then have a gander at the Audiobook Challenge, the What's In A Name Challenge, and the TBR Challenge pages over the next few days. 

Before I start writing and posting reviews, I have some great news! I now have a teeny-tiny book review column in the South Wales Evening Post! By-line and all! Woop! It's an opportunity I've been given in my shiny new job as a librarian and I'm thrilled with it. It's going to be a challenge as I have to submit four reviews each week and they can only be 80 words each! I'm so used to rambling on that whittling down the wordcount might prove difficult. 

I always did talk too much...

REVIEW: "Blood Red Road", by Moira Young

Title: Blood Red Road

Author: Moira Young

Format: Paperback

Pages: 492

Publisher: Marion Lloyd

Release Date: June 2nd 2011

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

In a lawless future land, where life is cheap and survival is hard, Saba has been brought up in isolated Silverlake. She never sees the dangers of the destructive society outside. When her twin brother is snatched by mysterious black-robed riders, she sets outon an epic quest to rescue him. The story's searing pace, its spare style, the excitement of its fabulously damaged world, its unforgettably vivid characters, its violent action and glorious lovestory make this a truly sensational YA debut novel.

Review

As I begin this review, I have no idea how many stars this book's going to end up getting off me! Let's see if we can work it out together... 

This is a book which has received tremendous praise from many other bloggers and reviewers. On the one hand, there was something strangely powerful about this book. The dialectical spellings and the improper punctuation added something to the dark depth of this story. On the other hand, I found some of the characters to be too shallowly drawn to truly like them... 

I loved the echoes of T.S Eliot's Wasteland in the early descriptions of the book. I also wondered if Moira Young might have ever come across Final Fantasy XII; her description of the Sandsea was very reminiscent of the location (of the same name) in that game. There was also a strong Western element to Blood Red Road. These days, (in spite of some valiant efforts from Hollywood) cowboy flicks have fallen by the tumbleweed-strewn wayside. But I grew up watching John Wayne movies with my parents and I still kind of want to jump on a stallion, kiss my favourite gal g'bye and ride off into the sunset with a gun on my hip! So, while some might see this element of the book as a negative, it actually appealed to me.  

Now I think about it, given the dystopian and western elements of the book, I suppose it reminded me a little of Roland Deschain's world in Stephen King's Dark Tower series.* Moira Young's references to the "Wreckers" who ruined the world, was decidedly evocative of King's novels. Saba's world was one which had moved on. I suppose all books in the dystopia genre portray such worlds though, don't they? 

Saba was a great kick-ass female protagonist, but I felt that there were times when she lacked depth. I loved her shaven-headed cage-fighting toughness, but also thought that she frequently seemed a lot younger than her eighteen years. She displayed a lack of empathy which sometimes seemed more like a serious psychological problem than a quirky character trait. She treated her little sister in a way which might have been more forgiveable if she was young girl, but which seemed like bratty selfishness in a young woman. While I believe Saba's immaturity and shallow proclivities were deliberate, (over the course of the book she does develop) even by the end of her journey she still didn't quite fit her eighteen years. And yet, it is her society has kept her young and ignorant... 

Hmm... suddenly the character drawbacks of the book seem for more deliberate and meaningful. I'm seeing depth where I didn't before. It's that kind of book. It needs attention. It needs thought. And suddenly, I'm appreciating it a lot more...

The antagonist of the book was a loony-tunes self-proclaimed King who was keeping his subjects high on a substance called "chaal". Dystopian books often tend to portray "The People" as sheep who have lost their way under the thumb of an evil rule, which has the potential to either save or doom itself. This mass is often drugged in some way, whether it be through propaganda, indoctrination or funky Kool-Aid. Young literally drugs her society, so the symbolism wasn't subtle, but it was still effective.

The inevitable love interest of the book was a young rogue by the name of Jack. While I liked his witty banter and his confident personality, Jack also struck me as a bit of a player. His lecherous stare when he first met Saba put me off. I was actually far more intrigued by the leader of the brutal Tonton, DeMalo. Before you start, I'm not swooning over the bad boy. I think my curiosity stems from the fact that DeMalo was a character with secrets. I'm looking forward to learning more about this fella.

Right. It's time to wrap this up and try to come to a conclusion. And you know what? Any book which gives me so much to talk about evidently has power. I don't think I realised the layers that this book had until I sat down to write about it. The flaws I saw in the book suddenly seem like secret little gems to be studied and praised. Saba's journey is going to be one which will test the innocence of her character and force her to be wise beyond her years. 

This is a book which has a strange power. It's kind of burrowed under my skin and I just know it's going to stick around! I'm really looking forward to following the rest of the series! I anticipated a four star review, but in discussing the book, I've come to appreciate it even more. Five stars! Gotta be!

*For more on my desire to be a gunslinger, read my review of The Wind Through The Keyhole, by Stephen King.