Life of Pi

Life of Pi:

After many recommendations from pretty much everyone I know, it took the looming threat of a movie release to finally get me to make Life of Pi a priority. My wife and I decided to read it together and I'll say from the get-go, it was an excellent book.

I think the biggest thing to point out is the symbolic nature of everything in the book, not only as the obvious allegory that the main plot line is, but also in the deeper themes and messages, the most important of which is only hinted at in a single sentence. In the end you're faced with the same question that the characters are faced with, which story are you going to believe.

Yann Martel delves deep into the ideas of stories always being subject to the interpretation of the observer and that truth from one person's perspective may not be truth from another's even if the truth derives from the same event.

Well thought-out, well written and well researched, Life of Pi is a lasting experience that you won't forget any time soon and is a book that should be read by everyone who cares to think of things in a new light.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Between a Rock and a Hard Place:

I have not read a lot of non-fiction. This stands as the third non-fiction narrative that I've read. That being said, this was the best. I imagine he was helped a lot with the writing, but even with that the narrative is amazingly vivid, descriptive and profound. I most surprised by the level of spiritual insight that filled each page.

For the first half of the novel, the narrative switches between Aron when he was stuck in the canyon, and his stories about his early life, all of which are thoroughly entertaining, and lend to a greater understanding of him as a person. The fact that the entire book was written by him only adds to that understanding in a way that a third person investigation never could.

The story of his entrapment is painful, profound, spiritual, enlightening and hopeful. The level of detail engrained into the narrative gives the reader the feeling that they are there, feeling his pain, living his thoughts and experiencing his failures and triumphs. The writing is brutally honest, as he consistently berates himself for his stupidity in getting into the situation, as well as his courage in getting out of it.

This book has changed the way that I view my daily life and it is something that everyone should read.

The Icewind Dale Trilogy

The Icewind Dale Trilogy:

Continuing my exploration of the Drizzt series, the second trilogy stands at a disadvantage to the first. That is, the Dark Elf Trilogy was written after this one as a prequel. This leads to some unfortunate side effects.

Let me start by saying that this is probably the least strong trilogy of the series. Not to say that it is bad, but it simply does not live up to the others.

What we find here is an author's first published work. As is often the case, the first published work is rarely the best. Looking at Eragon, we see something similar. It borrows from a lot of other stories and lacks any true creative spark.

In this respect Salvatore actually wins out. Although there are many stereotypical fantasy aspects to these books we see a creative spark, mostly in the main character. As I mentioned in my piece on the Dark Elf Trilogy, Drizzt is one of the most fascinating characters in the fantasy genre.

The series starts with The Crystal Shard. The main plot revolves around an arrogant, weak minded wizard named Akar Kessel. He stumbles upon a crystal shard that gives him great

power and he wreaks havoc on the land of Icewind Dale.

The stereotypes begin with the crystal shard itself, which falls very neatly into the same category as the one ring. It is a sentient artifact that wills it's wielder to do evil and it has great power. There are a lot of other basic fantasy, Lord of the Rings'ish, aspects to the story as well. Bruenor is a typical dwarf and Regis is a typical halfling.

Stereotypes aside, this does tell an intriguing story. The action is very well displayed and it is written in a manner that is both enjoyable and accessible. Drizzt becomes a great action hero, but with a deeper side to him, as he struggles to fit into a world where people of his kind are disdained.

The next book approaches another strong stereo type in fantasy. Bruenor wants to find his lost home, Moria, I mean mithral hall. While this premise is nothing new to the fantasy world, the actual events of the story are intriguing and unique in many ways. I think this book was where Drizzt's character really starts to flourish. In Icewind Dale, Drizzt was treated with disdainful tolerance, but as he sets out into the wide world, tolerance is lost and only disdain remains. This delves into some interesting themes about the character himself and how he reacts to situations where his life is unjustly threatened.

The story delves even deeper into his character as it introduces his antithesis, Artemis Entreri. Entreri quickly becomes another fascinating addition to the array of characters in the Drizzt

series as Drizzt begins to see himself as he would have been, had he stayed in the under dark. This view scares and disturbs him, providing another angle into the character's point of view.

The trilogy ends with an epic journey to save a friend. I'm not going to lie, this book contains one of the cheesiest things I have ever read in fantasy, and were it not for the fact that the rest of the story was so good I would have stopped reading the series. It all begins when Drizzt is heading south on a ship and Bruenor and Cattie-brie have been left behind. They are then provided with a magical flying chariot of fire that sweeps them across the sky back to Drizzt and Wulfgar.

From the moment I read that, I didn't like it and I couldn't believe it actually made it into the story.

Other than that the story is a grand adventure, with pirates and thieves, chases, escapes, torture, true love...

All in all, the Icewind Dale Trilogy is a good adventure and an interesting ride. Though it fails in comparison to the Dark Elf Trilogy, it is still worth reading a provides a bridge to the rest of the series.

There are problems with spelling on occasion that will take you out of the book for a moment, and because the Dark Elf Trilogy was written as a prequel, there are some continuity issues, but if they are sufficiently ignored, the story will still hold you until the end.

Why I hated the end of Harry Potter

I will start this by saying that I like the Harry Potter books. I think they are good, creative books that are well written and portray and interesting story with well built characters. However, the epilogue of the book would have best been left out. Do show why I think this, I would like to compare with another series, The Hunger Games, a series that I felt ended right.

Warning: There will be spoilers in this article.

For those who don't know, the last chapter of the Harry Potter series shows Harry, Ron and Hermione when they are older and have kids of their own. In the scene they are dropping the kids off to go to Hogwarts. They have such sickening names as Albus Severus Potter. They're all a happy family and everything is just perfect, but oh wait, young Scorpius Malfoy looks like he may play the part of bully, just like his father.

I have several problems with this chapter, but I would like to start from the most agreeable and slowly progress to the opinions that will cause more controversy.

My first issue is that it leaves nothing to the imagination. This single chapter covers the lives of pretty much every character that anyone cares about and gives you a rather solid idea of how their lives are. This is usually a sign that the author wished to control the story to much. The best part about writing a story is that people will always have their own interpretations for it. This give a story flexibility and makes it accessible to everyone, because it will mean something different to each person. If too much is explained then it leaves little or no room for interpretation, which limits the audience and the mental requirement of the reader.

My second issue is that of hokum. The names are cheesy, the explanations of the characters' stories are weak and follow pretty much the same lines as the parents' stories, and the scene has a sense of lightheartedness that does not match the tone of the rest of the book.

My third issue, and perhaps the most important, is that there is no sense of realism in the scene. This is where I would like to draw the comparison to Hunger Games. In Harry Potter, a lot of people die. Harry's friends are slaughtered around him and many other scaring experiences transpire. In Hunger Games we see the same. The main character, Katniss, is forced to kill, and watches many people that she loves get killed around her. Despite these similar backgrounds, their are two very different approaches to the outcome of these characters.

In the case of Harry, there is no hint in that last chapter that anything bad had ever happened to Harry. He kills Voldemort, then apparently goes on living his life as though half the people he knew hadn't just been killed. No PTSD. No regrets. No pain.

In the case of Katniss we are given a similar view into her future, though not as far. In this view we see the scars though. We are shown that some things never fade and that people are never the same after going through such horrible experiences. This not only provides an interesting philosophical view into the character, but also provides a strong sense of reality and believability, a feeling of continuity, and still provides room for the imagination to wander.

The end of Harry Potter falls short of all of these aspects. The lack of acknowledgement that what happened effected the characters gives only a feeling of outrageous fantasy and discontinuity, and destroys all suspension of disbelief that the rest of the story spent so long building.

This is my problem with ending. If there are any who disagree, feel free to post and let me know.

Addition: My cousin, Jinelle Piereder, had some good insights on this that I would like to add:

"I was so disappointed! It felt really naive, the fact that evil seemed to have disappeared altogether now that Voldemort was dead... Seriously? not one of those thousands of death eaters kept up their dark arts habits in 19 years? I felt like the books had really matured as they went on, and then there's this total reversion to the cheesy innocence of the very first book. I suppose she could've done that one purpose, but I don't think it was very effective."

Into the Wild

Into the Wild

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, however I've been trying to change that trend. This is one of those books where the movie made me want to read it. It doesn't happen often but every once in a while I see an amazing movie and need to read the book.

Into the Wild tells the story of a young man named Chris McCandless. Upon graduating from college he gives all his money to charity, abandons his car, burns whatever money he has left and leaves for wherever the road takes him. He changes his name to Alexander Supertramp and makes a new life for himself tramping across America.

Throughout his whole journey his supreme desire is to go to Alaska and live in the wild. After two years of tramping he makes his way to Alaska and hikes our into the wilderness and lives in a bus that he finds in the middle of no where.

Written by a reporter the book tells the story from a factual point of view, while still implanting in its chapters a sense of humanity and a plea for understanding for this fascinating character. This story is both inspiring and enlightening, drawing into subjects of philosophy a the internal yearning of the human spirit to explore and find that uncharted part of the map, a feeling that has been suppressed by how well charted our current maps are. Chris McCandless's experiences speak to that part of humanity and fills the reader with a sense of awe and respect.

The Road

The Road:

This was one of those books that I decided I had to read the moment I heard about it. It turned out to be one of the greatest books I've ever read, and Cormac McCarthy has since become my favorite writer.

I received the book for Christmas last year, and finished the book in two days. It was one of those books that does not allow you to put it down. There is something in the way that McCarthy writes that draws you into a story in a way that I've never seen another writer do. It is a story that doesn't rely on fast-paced action to grip you. Instead it pulls you into the characters and the dramatic situation they've been throw in.

The books tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world that has been reduced to ashes by some catastrophe. It is about a man and his son and their survival and search for happiness in a place of death and misery.

This is also one of those rare books, that has a great movie to go along with it. The movie was made with the perfect feel to accompany the book and Viggo Mortensen was the ideal actor for the part of the father.

The Road is an excellent narrative that builds stark contrasts of light in a world of absolute darkness. It gives momentous power to even the simplest events, like a father giving his son a Coke. If you have not read this book, go get it now and start. It stands as one of the greatest works of modern times.

Elantris and Warbreaker

Elantris and Warbreaker:

I bought this book based on whim. My friend told me I would enjoy it, but then again, another friend told me I would enjoy Twilight. So I make it habit to be very selective when listening to friends. However, the cover if this book stated "Elantris is the finest novel of fantasy to be written in many years..." Normally that would mean nothing to me, I mean, how many movies are advertised as "The Movie of the Year." What made this different is that the quote was attributed to Orson Scott Card.

It's no secret that Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite writers, so I bought it.

I was not disappointed, and soon afterward, I was not disappointed again when I read Warbreaker. Brandon Sanderson has quickly become one of my favorite fantasy writers. In a world of typically lame formulaic fantasy stories about elves and dwarfs he transcends stereotypes with truly unique stories and settings. Sanderson is an innovator in the genre. As much as Frank Herbert did for science fiction, Brandon Sanderson has the potential to do for fantasy.

Elantris tells an intensely dark story about a damning curse that has come over a once glorious city and its people. It's scope is grand but its characters are personal. It draws on deep religious questions while telling an engaging story full of intrigue and mystery.

The only criticism I had was that the structure of the story was somewhat mechanical. The writer bound the chapters to groups of three, where each of the three chapters was about one of the three main characters. This repeated throughout the whole book, which in no way ruined the book, but it did make some of the chapters feel forced.

Warbreaker improved on and practically eliminated the negative aspects of Elantris. While Elantris was one of the more enjoyable books I've read, Warbreaker was even better. This book contains some of the most enjoyable characters I've ever read. From the God who doesn't believe his own religion to a sentient sword who's only purpose is to destroy evil, even though it doesn't seem to know exactly what evil is. The story is fast paced and gripping, mixing the genres of political conspiracy and mystic fantasy.

Warbreaker has climbed to my top 5 list of totally awesome books. Everyone should read it, even if you don't like fantasy, this would be a good place to start.