April Meeting Recap

We enjoyed some yummy Rumbi food while discussing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. We talked a lot about how frustrating it must be for parents to have a child who can't express love in all the usual ways, like a hug. We thought the dad was a very strong person, even though he made some decisions that we questioned. He was put into a situation where he had to come through, so he did the best he could. Perhaps this is part of his jealousy toward the dog. The woman he loves doesn't love him back, but she loves the dog. His son can't show his love. This is a man who does not have love, but the dog does. All of his anger built up and the dog paid the price.

We went into the novel thinking that it was about the mystery of the dog's murder. However, things turn as the investigation leads Christopher to discover the truth about his mother, the story changes for the reader. However, Christopher stays focused on the dog. His story is about the dog's murder, and all this other stuff is a side-effect of the investigation. Everything centers around the dog, even his decision to seek out his mother. He is scared of his father because of what Dad did to the dog.

We found Christopher's sense of companionship with animals very interesting. We constantly worried about the rat, and were pretty amazed when he risked his life to save it. He also picked up the dog's body and hugged it, something he would never do with a human being.

We wondered about the realism of the book. We were impressed with the author's ability to show us the inner-workings of a person living with Asberger's, but we wondered whether or not a person like Christopher would be able to take so many risks and overcome those phobias that quickly.

We found ourselves worried for Christopher throughout the book because of all the newness he was experiencing. It seemed inevitable that he would become so spooked that he hurt someone else or himself. That was a constant source of suspense as Christopher made his way through a scary world.

Catching Up on Recaps

Wow...I really dropped the ball with the blog, huh?

Year of Wonders:
The general consensus is that the story was really enjoyable. The tone was pleasing, the true story inspiring it was very interesting, and the characters created a lot of thought. Human nature really came through in the story. People fear the unknown and try to force things into making sense. Others will find a way to benefit from the tragedies and fear of others. We become closer to those who experience similar tragedies.

As far as the true story goes, we were amazed at the willingness of the people in this village to risk sacrifice to themselves as opposed to spreading the plague to many others. It was the lesser of two evils, and it is very pragmatic, but it was an ultimately selfless act. It is bound to test people and change them in many ways. Anna becomes more independent and self-reliant. She finds an inner strength. The reverend questions his faith, to the point of abandoning it for a while. His wife, the one character with an interesting past, finds penance in her service to others.

The disagreement came with the story's ending. It feels "thrown in" as an attempt to sum up the situation. Some felt that it was an unrealistic ending, others felt it was too "tied up." We all agreed that the book isn't about the ending, so it's easy to overlook. However, it did show how Anna refused to go back to the person she was. She found a pragmatic way to practice midwifery and provide for her child. It was certainly a way that is foreign to western culture, but it shows how completely she's turned her back on who she used to be.

All-in-all, a good read.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie:
There was some disagreement over the unrealistic smartness of Flavia. I think we came to agree that the book itself is supposed to be a bit humorous with silly caricatures and odd situations, so realism wasn't the goal. She certainly is a delightful character. It was interesting how her investigation and the official investigation eventually collide, even though they'd been following different paths. Hers was very scientific, almost modern, while the official team's path was more concrete. Of course, the official investigation was more professional. She took some turns that were a bit childish and "the long way," but she still made her way through her tenacity.

This will be a series, and some were interested in the next books, others, not so much. However, we thought it would be popular among young mystery fans. Most of us knew a tween or teen that would enjoy this book.

We appreciated the random history facts about the beginning stages of postage stamps. It was interesting and something that we didn't have previous background knowledge about.

Brave Story:
We agreed that the first two hundred pages needed to be about 50. We didn't need that much information to understand the background. The quest part of the story was interesting and we liked the psychological aspects of it.

• Good and evil are within all of us. We can't ignore this and separate one from the other, but accept and control the evil within us.
• We are in control of our own destinies. We can't control what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond to it. We were glad that this was the ultimate moral to the story
• Our own actions have consequences to others. Wataru's dad's actions caused suffering to Wataru. Mitsuru's actions caused much suffering to many people in Vision.

Several cultural things were interesting to read about: things like cram school and the way that Wataru's mother felt it was most appropriate to cater to the will of her husband rather than be her own person. On this last one, we wondered whether this is something that is usual in Japanese culture or if her behavior is atypical. It was interesting to see that bullies happen in Japan, too. Bumps in social development create the need to bully others, regardless of culture.

We felt the secondary characters were interesting and well developed. Each offered support in his/her own way, and they all helped keep Wataru focused on his goal and create his path to that goal. They did show what real friends should be relied upon to do. They support him when he needs it and they redirect him when he veers off course. While these secondary characters were definitely friends, they also served as parental figures.

The "cameos" of real world people in Vision were also unique. We were surprised at how Mitsuru could use the image of his aunt in the way that he did, even when he felt justified.

Future Meeting Information

We spent some time organizing the schedule for the next few months. The titles and links to the books on Amazon are over on the left side of this blog, as is also the information for our next meeting. The meeting dates we proposed are the following:

Jan. 12
Feb. 9
March 16
April 20

We are meeting the second Tuesday in Jan and February since Jan. 19 is a teacher workday in Davis and Feb 16 is the first day back from the long Presidents' Day weekend. We'll be getting back to the third Tuesday schedule in March.

Also, a heads up for our March meeting. The book is Brave Story, which is just over 800 pages long. We're announcing it early so you can have a bit more time for this one!

December Meeting Recap

We met at Cafe Rio on December 15 to discuss Downriver by Will Hobbs. The majority of us felt that it was not as strong as Crossing the Wire. The book is very "young adult," with two-dimensional characters and more excitement than substance.

We liked the group dynamic and wondered at the way this tended to be ignored by reviewers. This group did something stupid and dangerous because of peer pressure. They chose to follow a leader based on good looks and popularity rather than knowledge and skill.

Troy sparked a tangent about how popular kids tend to "rule" in the high school environment, and many students don't see through them. These popular students then have the ability to manipulate those around them who are more than willing to follow along.

We were disappointed in the lack of consequences. The scorpion is played out as a lethal foe, yet when Freddy gets stung, he seems to have all the time in the world. None of the characters suffer any lasting consequences for their actions. Instead, they end up almost rewarded. It's a fairy-tale ending for most of them, and in the sequel, they're even invited on another excursion with the guy they stole all the equipment from in the first place! We felt that this was a detriment to the book. Young readers see these students breaking the law, taking life-threatening risks, and getting off with rewards. We felt that there should be more lasting consequences.

Overall, we felt this would be a good read for struggling and reluctant readers in high school and most 6-8 graders.

Brave Story...To Read or Not to Read?

This is the product description from Amazon:

Wataru Mitani's life is a mess. His father has abandoned him, and his mother has been hospitalized after a suicide attempt. Desperately he searches for some way to change his life--a way to alter his fate. To achieve his goal, he must navigate the magical world of Vision, a land filled with creatures both fierce and friendly. And to complicate matters, he must outwit a merciless rival from the real world. Wataru's ultimate destination is the Tower of Destiny, where a goddess of fate awaits. Only when he has finished his journey and collected five elusive gemstones will he possess the Demon's Bane--the key that will unlock the future. Charity, bravery, faith, grace and the power of darkness and light: these are the provinces of each gemstone. Brought together, they have the immeasurable power to bring Wataru's family back together again.

About the Author (Wikipedia):

Born in Tokyo in 1960, Miyuki Miyabe is a popular contemporary Japanese author active in a number of genres including science fiction, mystery, historical fiction, social commentary, and juvenile fiction. Her most famous novel in the English-speaking world is All She Was Worth, translated by Alfred Birnbaum and published in 1999. Amongst anime fans, her most famous novel Brave Story is the most famous, as it has notably been adapted into an animated film, an alternate retelling manga series, and a series of video games.

A prolific writer, Miyabe has published dozens of novels since her first in 1987. Her writing has recieved many major literary awards in Japan.

Glowing Praise from an Amazon Reviewer:

In this book, there are both fantastical elements and real-world elements.... The first couple hundred pages of this weighty tome (the book itself is over 800 pages long) are set in the real world and deal primarily with Wataru's domestic crises as his family begins to fall apart. The first chunk of the book does have strong, very important fantasy themes, but these are used largely for the benefit of telling Wataru's domestic story.

Once Wataru does enter and remain int he fantasy world, his real-world problems continue to plague him. The fantasy world, Vision, resembles the real world in many important respects.

In the beginning of the book, the fantasy world bleeds into the real world. Int he rest of the book, the real world bleeds into the fantasy world.

I'm sure I'm making the book sound too dry. For most of the book, I was on the edge of my seat, racing through pages, seeing and experiencing the adventures Wataru faces. My heart was racing as Wataru barely servived his encounters with demons, magical statures, and the worshippers of the old God. This book is, for the large part, a truly fast read, and often it is quite gripping. I finished this 800-page behemoth in the course of a week.

I've heard people compare this book to ... the Harry Potter series. While there are numerous similarities, Brave Story is a far darker novel. I probably wouldn't have liked this book as much had it not been for some very dark, scary moments. I like those moments - they make the book seem more real and relevant. Much of the book isn't disturbing at all, but some of it really is. This is something to keep in mind.

I loved this book - sometimes dark, it was always complex and gripping and had great characters and a wonderful fantasy world. A true must-read.

The Most Negative Review on Amazon:

I grabbed this book on the shelf based on the reviews here, and was really disappointed. For the first 200 pages, it's really interesting, although very dark for younger readers. .... Around page 200, howeve,r he crosses over into this new world on a quest-- and this is where the book completely lost me. The new world looks, sounds, and appears to be entirely based on RPGs (role-playing games); the author tries to finesse this by arguing that, since the fantasy world is based on Wataru, and WAtaru likes RPGs, it's okay that this world is so derivative. No one who has ever played an RPG/ D&D (Dungeons and Dragons), or even read much fantasy will be surprised by anythign that happens from here on out, however; this reminded me a lot of the slew of terrible books that came out in the wake of D&D in the 80s where people appeared to be writing quest novels by rolling die and reporting back the results. Wataru himself also becomes fairly inconsistent, since the author needs him to act older than his age for the story to work. Worst of all, the author doesn't return to real-world Japan except for a few pages at the end, leaving very unresolved all the set-up that came before. This felt like a good YA book about divorce squashed up against a derivative RPG quest; that the latter was 500 pages long was, I thought, just depressing.

December Meeting Info

We will be discussing Downriver by Will Hobbs. Sheryl will be leading us in the discussion. Feel free to get the discussion started by commenting.

November Meeting Recap

We met at Cutler's in Layton and discussed Crossing the Wire. This was our choice for last May, but as only two people went to the meeting.... This book is certainly worth a second try in our group.

The theme of the book is immigration. Victor's father worked in the U.S. and was killed in a construction accident. Because of free trade and American farmer subsidies, the farming industry in Mexico is falling under. Victor cannot support his family by farming, so the fifteen-year-old turns to immigration. This is extremely dangerous considering he has no money to pay a coyote and has no idea what he is doing.

There were some real eye openers in the book. For instance, Victor's age is the average age of those crossing the wire to work in the U.S. The negative effects of free trade are not publicized. And the tenseness between Latinos from different countries was interesting.

Hobbs bases everything in his books on reality. The accident that killed Victor's father really happened. Victor's home village and the Cristo del Rey are really out there in central Mexico (although the village was renamed for the book.) Victor's path is one that is taken by many. The story of the high school football star who had lived in the U.S. since he was a baby, and who was picked up on a traffic violation and deported to his "home" country where he had never been and didn't speak the language...that happened in Denver.

We had some spirited discussion on immigration. What are the problems? What are the solutions? Who are the real victims? How does racism and minority status affect us here in Utah?

In the end, we let the discussion trail off with the idea that immigrating to the U.S. is no one's great big dream. Rico had that dream and he opted out once he got into the U.S. and realized that it's hard and inconsistent work in a place where he would constantly have to watch his back. Rico had a choice and he chose home--where he had family. Victor didn't have that choice, so he had to stick it alone in the U.S. so his family could survive.

Please feel free to continue the discussion in the comments. Did something in our discussion strike you? Did something occur to you on the drive home?