There’s Atticus Finch, and there’s the myth of Atticus Finch. There’s what he is, and what he’s come to stand for. What he is (and I say this with great affection for To Kill a Mockingbird) is an ur-text for the white savior story: a depiction of history that lets white folks today feel good about themselves. If we’d lived back then (we think while reading), we would not have been Bob Ewell. We would be Atticus Finch. (Or the commander in Glory or Skeeter in The Help — or, or, or.) It’s a problem for minority groups, of course.…
33 CommentsCategory: 2 Stars
Sometimes when you impulse-pick up the newest book by a famous author you have never tried before, it turns out to be a mistake because their latest book is not their best book, but you don’t know that, so what you think is, I don’t like this author. When maybe what you’ve just done is write off J. R. R. Tolkien because you didn’t like The Silmarillion. I wasn’t, in short, wild about Hiding in Plain Sight. It’s about a woman named Bella who suddenly becomes guardian to her niece and nephew after their father, her beloved older brother Aar,…
12 CommentsSooooo remember when I said that I was concerned that Poison wasn’t going to work out for me? Poison…didn’t work out for me. By rough synopsis, Poison should have worked flawlessly for me. It’s a dark retelling of the “Snow White” story (if you’re thinking, That story doesn’t need to be retold dark; it was dark when we got here, I feel you) that deals with the complicated relationship between Snow White and her stepmother and the expectations men have of women. Except it doesn’t really deal with those things, at least not in any way that’s convincing or surprising. It looks like it’s…
7 CommentsWhen I was in middle school, there was this author called Lurlene McDaniel who wrote all these books about children my age with dreadful diseases who fought courageously against them and then died. I didn’t read any of them (because ugh), but I’ve always had her pegged as the Nicholas Sparks of the YA world. (Oh, God, has Nicholas Sparks written any YA novels yet? Let’s stop that from happening at any cost. I don’t care about the books themselves, but I don’t want to read the sanctimonious interviews Nicholas Sparks would certainly give about how his books are different…
23 CommentsImportant update: Based on the two samples of this genre that I have read so far (this and The Thief, both by widely acclaimed Japanese authors), I have concluded that Japanese thriller mystery type books are not for me. I am not sure why I ever thought they were, given that I struggle with books in translation and I do not like thriller mystery type books above half. Natsuo Kirino has been on several of the lists for A More Diverse Universe, with specific praise for her ability to write about the disaffection of teenagers in the modern world. (Red…
4 CommentsNote: I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration. In my professional career, academics have occasionally been really, really snotty to me when I didn’t deserve snottiness. This isn’t a judgment on academics. When you work with a very large number of people from any demographic group, it is statistically likely that a couple of them will be jerks. But still: I have sometimes asked an academic a simple question, and s/he has responded with — instead of an answer to my question — a paragraphs-long, sarcasm-and-righteousness-laden treatise on his/her mistreatment at the hands…
18 CommentsEva is an echo. She was created to be the perfect double of a girl called Amarra, insurance against the possibility that Amarra might one day die. Every week, Amarra writes letters to Eva, describing everything she’s learned and seen and done, so that Eva will have all the same memories and all the same knowledge. If Amarra gets a tattoo, Eva has to get one to match it. In her small house in England, hedged about with Guardians to remind her of her duties, Eva chafes against her restrictions and dreams of being free. I wanted to like The…
6 CommentsHere is a book about a girl called Veronika who has been kept in ignorance all her life, and when her circumstances change, she is only pretty vaguely enlightened. So are we. I prefer to be more enlightened. Veronika lives on an island with three other girls: Caroline, Isabel, and Eleanor. They are all the same exact girl, except that their hair is different colors. Their parents died in a plane crash. They live with their guardians, Robbert and Irene, who educate them and test them and try to understand them. One day, a girl called May washes up on…
17 CommentsI happened across Brown at the library, and I checked it out because Richard Rodriguez mentioned James Baldwin as an influence. Oh, Richard Rodriguez. You know the way to my heart. When one has picked up a book on account of its having been influenced by someone one loves and admires, it is best not to think about it too much. Think about it too much, and Rodriguez inevitably comes off the worst, as would almost any essayist if you stacked him up next to Baldwin. At times, Rodriguez is beautifully evocative. Some passages are gorgeous: “Her eyes are needles,…
4 Comments