30 books, and shifting paradigms

It's May 2015, and I missed the half birthday of my last post. Since that time, I've closed out the year of adventure by cruising the Caribbean, visiting lil' Rhody, and seeing Colorado. I also finished my master's program. Booked a trip to Vietnam. Spent a week at Disney World. Heard news about a new book by Harper Lee. I also saw Neil Gaiman in real life at the Tulsa PAC. Read 29 books in 2014.

I'm also working on a goal of reading 30 books in 2015, and I'm 8 books in:

1) A Sudden Light, by Garth Stein

2) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

3) The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, by Jeff Hobbs

4) Looking for Alaska, by John Green

5) The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

6) Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

7) Flight, by Sherman Alexie

8) One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Around book 4, I decided to try and read books by authors who were not white males. Somewhere in there, I also started reading "A Brief History of Seven Killings" by Marlon James, and had an epiphany: not only is it easiest to find books by white, male authors, but in a world that favors white culture, reading books from non-white cultural viewpoints can present challenges. It also can be profound. 

I am committing to reading 30 books this year and that the majority of them will be by folks who are not white males. Around the time I made this commitment, I read this article about a "racebent" Hermione Granger. It's a powerful read about the importance of diverse cultures and perspectives in literature. In the article, Junot Diaz is quoted a couple of times:

"Look, without our stories, without the true nature and reality of who we are as People of Color, nothing about fanboy or fangirl culture would make sense. What I mean by that is: if it wasn’t for race, X-Men doesn’t sense. If it wasn’t for the history of breeding human beings in the New World through chattel slavery,Dune doesn’t make sense. If it wasn’t for the history of colonialism and imperialism, Star Wars doesn’t make sense. If it wasn’t for the extermination of so many Indigenous First Nations, most of what we call science fiction’s contact stories doesn’t make sense. Without us as the secret sauce, none of this works, and it is about time that we understood that we are the Force that holds the Star Wars universe together. We’re the Prime Directive that makes Star Trek possible, yeah. In the Green Lantern Corps, we are the oath. We are all of these things—erased, and yet without us—we are essential.

He also said:

"You guys know about vampires? … You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves. And growing up, I felt like a monster in some ways. I didn’t see myself reflected at all. I was like, ‘Yo, is something wrong with me? That the whole society seems to think that people like me don’t exist?’ And part of what inspired me, was this deep desire that before I died, I would make a couple of mirrors. That I would make some mirrors so that kids like me might see themselves reflected back and might not feel so monstrous for it."

I am also committing to posting my reflections more often. I'm no longer writing grad school papers and I really should log my reading reflections. How's 1 per week? We'll start there.

To reading (&writing) & learning,

~MJ

Our Little Infinity

"...it occurred to me that the voracious ambition of humans is never sated by dreams coming true, because there is always the thought that everything might be done better and again." - from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.


Recommended reading.


I heard about it, and also heard it was sad. I vaguely knew it had a storyline focused on cancer, which also is a topic I struggle reading about. But, the Collector's Edition at Barnes and Noble caught my eye and I surrendered my hesitation. Besides reiterating how dangerous (and expensive) my visits to bookstores can be, it sure enough turned out to be a good buy.
For the better part of the first half of the story, I seriously questioned the popularity of this book. The writing was interesting (mostly), yes, but there was a tinge of superficiality. And then at some point, I think when the story's turning point in the plot really occurred, I was hooked. I wasn't hooked in the "Twilight" form of just wanting to know what happens, but rather in the "wow, this is a really good book, can't-put-it-down" kind of way. 

I knew what was going to happen at the end when I reached the turning point. Normally, this was turn me off of a book. But John Green, I think, did this on purpose, investing me not only in the book's key relationship  by telling me it would be short-lived, and then using every part of the story to reflect on how fleeting, yet meaningful, certain aspects of life can be. Not to mention conjuring up connections to my own personal romances and tragedies. 

What surprised me most is that I actually teared up at the end. Not because what happened in the plot surprised me, but because of the writing - the words caught me by surprise and tears actually crawled down my cheeks.

And it was over, just like that. Despite knowing what would happen, I was surprised it actually ended. So abruptly and beautifully at the same time. And that's when I knew what the buzz was all about - why the bestseller, why the "Collector's Edition" as a marketing ploy, why it was recommended to me by so many different people.

So trust me, it's worth reading. The story reads like a Hollywood movie with more poetry. It's a love story that I can see being as culturally profound as Romeo and Juliet, and Green, although writing for teenagers, doesn't hesitate at all to make references to great works of literature through the ages. The characters are smart and witty while also being wise and dynamic. Philosophically, the book includes themes around life, love, time, and human relationships - nothing novel or new, but uniquely told through the lens of the type of tragedy anyone who has ever heard the word "cancer" can relate to.

Bear with the first half. You'll find that turning point and never look back.

Per Hazel Grace's eloquence, I say this about her story (as told by John Green): "Some infinities are bigger than other infinities...I can't tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity."


~MJ

PS Also really enjoyed The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. Another must read, explained via another blog. It's funny, poignant and high-quality. The movie is different in many ways, but also good. I recommend both, because very truly, "I believe in happy endings."