Intriguing, yet Uninspiring

I'm reading the first book in "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin. "A Game of Thrones" is a long book...674 pages. I've read about half in a week, having a hard time putting it down sometimes. But I'm realizing it is purely entertainment with little  to offer in terms of broader, provocative themes. I still like it. I just wonder how committed I will be to the series. This series of really long books.

I'm definitely into the book at hand. But I feel like reading the series will just be my commitment to its soap operatic quality...that guilty pleasure with no higher, morally-redeemable value. You may have noticed I really like books that make me think about values, aspects of humanity, history and current events. On the surface, this story includes a lot of politics and an interesting web of human relationships, but none of it is taken to a very thought-provoking level. It just keeps me reading somehow. And sometimes, the best reads are those that are just fun.

But, I will say the book has surprised me in places so far - so maybe Martin is going  to throw in some deeper meaning at some point. There certainly are enough characters, solid plot-lines, and an incredible, medieval landscape.

We'll see.

~MJ

Summer Reading Achieved

10 books is a lot in a summer. At least for my schedule. I tried reading about 20 minutes a day, at least, and would often read for an hour or so. But there were a few days when I just couldn't bring myself to pick up a book - if only because I was doing other things, I was sleepy, or needed a break.

10 was an ambitious goal when I started on June 9. But, I made it before Labor Day! I think a tradition of mine might be 10 books between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Here they are, in order of completion:

1. The Green Mile by Stephen King
2. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
3. Room by Emma Donoghue
4. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
5. What is the What by Dave Eggars
6. Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools by Glenn Singleton and Curtis Linton
7. In the Deep Heart's Core by Michael Johnston
8. Fist Stick Knife Gun by Geoffrey Canada
9. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
10. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

I enjoyed each book in its own way, with my clear favorites being The Green Mile, What is the What, In the Deep Heart's Core, and The Outsiders. I would recommend any of these books to my friends, though, knowing that each has its own purpose and diverse qualities.

I really like the experience of setting a reading goal and working to achieve it. It sometimes made reading seem like a chore, but I would always quash that feeling with the knowledge that finishing a book feels so good! Therefore, I think I will set goals for myself each season to keep my reading going.

My other "reading seasons" will be marked by holidays...

Fall: Labor Day to Thanksgiving
Winter: Thanksgiving to St. Patrick's
Spring: St. Patrick's to Memorial Day

For the fall, I only want to finish two books:

"A Game of Thrones: Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin
(because I want to watch the TV show and I've heard this series is amazing)
"The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver
(because I want another read like Poisonwood and Kingsolver will surely deliver)

I will probably read more than these - but I set the goal just around them because they are so lengthy and I want to make myself finish them. I hope to finish at least a couple of the books on my shelf I have bookmarks in halfway through, like "American Gods" and "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman.

But my goal will be to get through Martin and Kingsolver, with any other finished books being purely coincidental.

Here goes!

~MJ

"If we don't have each other, we don't have anything."

I've lived in Tulsa for two years now, so I figured it was finally time to read "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. I had never heard of the novel before moving here; rightfully, it's Tulsa's literary pride and joy. It's been a national bestseller, but somehow, it did not show up on my radar until I came to its birthplace.

Originally published in 1967, Hinton's freshman year at the University of Tulsa, it is a tale of friendship, family, and loyalty. It also focuses heavily on violence, cultural differences, and classism. Hinton originally wrote it as a student at Will Rogers High School here in Tulsa, one of the oldest schools in the city and where my roommate did her two-year TFA commitment.

There was little reference to any specific Tulsa places in the story, but the plot centers around a group of boys on the "east side" who are at odds with another gang on the "west side" with some identifiable landmarks like the Arkansas River. Although it takes place in the '60s and is a meditation on Hinton's view of problems in town, the themes, characters, and plot situations are incredibly universal. Told from a 14 year-old's perspective, the more I read the more I recognized the book's value and the reasons my students consistently picked it up out of our classroom library. Even though the story's characters may have looked different than most of my students who loved this book, many of the issues the characters deal with are strikingly similar to violence that still exists in many urban centers, including Tulsa, today.

One of the main messages that consistently struck me regarded the uselessness of focusing on differences, motivations for violence, and how meaningless most violence is. There are good moments to discuss all of these, and some of the action in the story made me realize how gray some situations are, no matter how obviously black and white you want everything to be. Instead of reviewing the plot, I'd rather reflect briefly on two passages that made this story for me:

"It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different." -pp. 41

The concept of the "same sun" has always been fascinating to me. Although viewing the sunset or staring up at the stars can be a very personal experience, every day, it is shared by millions of people. We are all under the same sky and somehow, we manage to put up walls, create obstacles, and very handily decide that our differences are greater than our commonalities. We nit-pick about the little things: political viewpoints, religious differences, even the variety of colors present between us. Why do we waste time on the negative side of these differences, judging "the bad" instead of valuing the good? I frequently get annoyed by some of the differences of opinion I may have with some people, and I may also be confused or sometimes frightened by the things I don't know about somebody - so confused that judgement may pass. But ultimately, I like to reflect on why I made those judgements, get to know somebody so that I can alter my perceptions, and talk with those people with different opinions to challenge my beliefs and deepen my thinking. In that way, I'd like to think I recognize and value the differences everyone has. I may get scared, uncomfortable, annoyed, or even angry sometimes - but the idea that we all have different stories under the same sky is somehow life-affirming and a big reminder that the universe is greater than ourselves. So, why worry about the petty things?

"I could picture hundreds of boys living on the wrong side of cities, boys with black eyes who jumped at their own shadows. Hundreds of boys who maybe watched sunsets and looked at stars and ached for something better. I could see boys going down under street lights because they were mean and tough and hated the world, and it was too late to tell them that there was still good in it, and they wouldn't believe you if you did. It was too vast a problem to be just a personal thing. There should be some help, someone should tell them before it was too late." - pp. 179

The poetry of this passage wasn't the only thing that reached me. This paragraph encapsulates what teaching became to me as I delved deeper into life in my classroom and the surrounding community. So many of my students were on the "wrong side of cities" and some were "mean and tough and hated the world." Even those that weren't had moments of fragile frustration, angst, or pessimism. Through literature, through writing, and through my relationship with my students, I tried to be a beacon of "it will get better" or "I'm here for you" or "It's not too late." The pressure of that was tremendous sometimes. The walls erected by resistant teenagers seemed insurmountable at others. But what kept me going was the knowledge that 1) we share the same sky, and 2) all they need and want is love. Sometimes, I sucked at showing that love - but never for a moment did I not feel it. It's crazy how easily that strong feeling can come up in a room of complete strangers on day 1 of being in the classroom, and how quickly that feeling can evolve and deepen over the course of a year. Even more, how much of a void there is without them sometimes.

I read this book because I thought I should as a resident of Tulsa. I finished it reminded of so many of my students - their love of this book, their diverse stories and struggles, the importance of love in any success we had together. The narrator of "The Outsiders" and his characters continually stress the importance of friendship. That the sunset is better when you know somebody is there to enjoy it with you.

It's books like these that reaffirm my values and help me to strive to be a better person. I know from reading this that I want all children to have loving friends and family, to be able to read good books and grow intellectually. I also reaffirmed by reading this book my belief in the power of my friends in family in who I am today. Even those who have betrayed me or left me or were never really friends to begin with. Without them, I wouldn't be half of who I am, and may not have the wherewithal to grow as a person. I miss those I've lost, like our narrator does, but also hold dear the lessons they taught me and the traits they instilled within me.

We ALL still share the same sky. And without each other, each and every one of us, we don't have anything.

~MJ