There are few things I do because of peer pressure, but reading is one of them. A friend of mine read the first Hunger Games book and insisted that I read the trilogy along with her. I borrowed her book and blazed through in just a few hours. In fact, I think it took me about 12 hours to read the whole trilogy. I don’t share this to brag, only to confess that I read them quick, and my impressions are reflective of that.

I will NOT mention any spoilers. Overall I felt that the basic framework of the story was great, but the execution fell short. It’s not a bad trilogy, and it is for pre-teens after all. I will admit that I felt, while reading, that it was originally intended to be a trilogy for adults (especially considering the dark themes) and it was presented for teens because the writing was at more of a teen level. Maybe a comparison to another book would help me explain: The Harry Potter series is for kids but… it’s not the quality of the writing that makes it so.

The books raises some questions about human rights, society, government, and love. I think that any authored story will have some statements that the literature makes, by virtue of how it is written. In the case of the Hunger Games, I found that some of the issues that drove action in the story were not brought to a meaningful or full conclusion. Some of the statements the books made, in my opinion, were inconclusive or lacking. Sometimes, there were elements of the story that were necessary for the reader’s comprehension, but seemed out of place with the flow of the story. These tent pole moments were necessary to keep the story aloft, but were distracting.

I think that ends all the negative things I have to say about it. On the positive side, the framework of the story is interesting and thought provoking enough to be worth a read. Though some moments are truly tragic and heartbreaking, I think it is the situation that provokes these emotions. I’m not sure the writing was insightful and touching on its own accord. Even though the story is told in first person, I think the main character does not become as dynamic as I would have liked. Ok that was the last negative thing. But, these are impressions made during a quick read through. I may go back, read them more carefully, and write a real review.

These are the books I have read in roughly the last week:

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter by Tom Bissell
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America by Jeff Ryan
The Sibling Effect by Jeffery Kluger

Having read them so closely together, I will pit them against one another in this meta-review. These books don’t necessarily have anything to do with one another, though at times they do overlap. I often find that no matter what I read, if I read them in a short span of time I can’t help to notice connections between them. The Outliers book was a grounding factor in explaining not only the success of an individual like Tina Fey, but also companies such as Nintendo. The Sibling Effect, which discusses how birth order and your siblings help shape your identity, is another unifying factor across the different books and the viewpoints of the people that wrote them.

Simply stated, siblings are important. There were some fascinating facts, but overall it talked more about what cannot be said objectively since there are so many subjective experiences in any individuals life, and among any group of siblings. Any section that particularly applies to the reader’s own life experience is understandably more interesting than those that don’t, Kluger has a family history that covers most of the bases. His passion for the topic is widely founded in his own experiences, but the field of research on sibling relationships is strangely sparse and only recently gaining more attention. In any case, its fun to read and hypothesize about yourself and those you know, and how they fit into their familial roles. These family roles are the making of us, and can explain the choices we make. In Tina Fey’s case, her identity as the youngest, much cherished youngest child resulted in an outpouring of love and support that gave her the foundation of confidence so crucial to her success.

Bossypants was exactly what I expected, and yet, it made me realize what it wasn’t. What I expected was a humorous story about a humor professional. At times it was very personally detailed, but that also highlighted an absence of that same intimacy near the end of the book. Of course, that is a writer’s prerogative, especially when writing their own autobiography. Maybe there is not yet enough perspective distance for her to comment on her more recent life in the way that she comments on her adolescence, or maybe her adult life is public enough that she feels she does not have to comment. In any case, one thing that seemed very intriguing in a perhaps unintentional way is how she spoke of her time impersonating Sarah Palin on SNL after she had left the show and started 30 Rock. In the most literal way that it could possibly happen, she had found her place. She earlier laments that she does not look like anyone else, and where other actresses could wear a wig and convincingly portray others, she had never been capable of doing so. This excluded her from certain opportunities, and seemed like a disadvantage when she was younger. As she portrayed Palin, it was that distinctiveness that eventually gave her an unparalleled advantage.

Distinctiveness leading to an unparalleled advantage is the basic premise of Outliers. Gladwell digs into stories of success to show that they are extraordinary, but also explainable. It’s not merely a mystical lottery of  fate that allows people to achieve success: it is often a mix of coincidence, opportunity, and very hard work. Some find that work endlessly enjoyable, as with Bill Gates time spent programming as a young man, or a lawyer who takes cases no one wants, only to gain the experience that years later allows him to be at the head of the field later. (The hard work and experience needed, as a side note, happens to average ten thousand hours. So, you know… plan accordingly) The responses to the opportunities presented is often what opens the pathways to success. In many cases, what could have been viewed as a disadvantage or an obstacle was turned into a unique advantage. This was true for Tina Fey, and it was true for Nintendo of America as well.

In Super Mario, we learn that the start of Nintendo of America was precarious to say the least. The wealthy owner of Nintendo wanted an America outlet during the booming arcade period. He shipped a bunch of arcade machines along with his daughter and son-in-law over to America, where the machines failed to sell. Instead of swallowing the loss, the son-in-law decided cheaply recycle the machines by swapping the motherboards with a new game. That game was created by an unlikely nonconformist by the name of Shigeru Miyamoto. The Donkey Kong game Miyamoto created ignited the success of not just Nintendo of America, but Nintendo at large and subsequently created their flagship personality, Mario. There are also critical missteps by Nintendo, such as their reluctance to adopt discs and pushing for online game features, but never considering online multi-player. Even in overwhelming success stories, there are still some overwhelming failures. These failures mesh into the identity of the success, and are an important part of the story.

It was the same failure among success that I did not suspect to find in Extra Lives. I think that any and every gamer could, from their own perspective, write this same book. That is not meant to lessen the book itself, but instead endorse its premise. Bissell mentions that games gave him and extra life during a hardship he faced, but does not reveal the full details until later in the book. I felt that the book itself slowed in pace right before this revelation, almost reluctant to tell the whole story. But, as he shows in his chronicles of other game makers and in his praise for their work, games are a complex, personal reflection of the people who make them and the people that play them. The games are a mirror for their success, their pride, their failures and their regrets.

Outliers was defiantly my favorite of the five. I expected The Sibling Effect to be similar and found myself somewhat disappointed. I did not expect Super Mario to be similar and it was: full of information and told in a engaging style. Bossypants was easily the most entertaining of all the books, but Extra Lives proved the most personal. I would recommend all of them.

So, I’ve been reading quite a bit of Deepak Chopra, who is a spirituality enthusiast. As I read more, his books seem to be increasingly similar. I don’t think that’s a bad thing necessarily. They are easy reads and certainly urge you towards a place of peace. Here’s my break down for each of the three books:

The Third Jesus:
I read this one first, after seeing it at the library. The subtitle seemed to hint at urgency (“the Christ we cannot ignore”) and I was intrigued.

I was raised Catholic and still consider myself to be so, but I have always found there to be a sort of gap in Catholicism regarding the application of Jesus’s message. I know it’s easy to villanize people who say they believe and act like jerks, but moreover I prefer a slightly more eastern interpretation of Jesus’s message, which Chopra provides. I feel that what Jesus was claiming was a little more abstract than he was letting on, and that his message was limited by those who interpreted it. I also think Paul can be a bit much, but that’s a completely different matter. Now, I’ve been told that really, this interpretation of Jesus isn’t all that un-Catholic, but that too is a different matter. I liked this book for how much it uses text, history, and a worldly viewpoint to give its message.

Buddha:

I almost didn’t check out this book once I saw that it was a novel imagining the life of Buddha, which just seemed corny to me. In The Third Jesus a lot of connections were made between Jesus, who I knew a lot about, and Buddha, who I knew nothing about. I concluded that an imagining of his life would still be informative, and a good place to start. I am glad I read it, even as a work of fiction, because I know the basic story and message of Buddha. Maybe it’s just because I am reading this from Chopra’s perspective, but it is a very similar message of love.

The Path to Love:
I suppose his emphasis on love makes this book very sensible for him to write. Seeing as the “love” part has never been an issue for me, this has been my least favorite of the three. In a fundamental way I agree with Chopra’s perspective of love, which makes reading the book feel a bit redundant. I am not sure I will finish reading it, but he did say some very precise things I have been trying to explain to my husband vaguely for years, so I may have him read it. I suppose I should have chose it for our next book…

Chopra’s style can be a bit flowery and transcendental, so if that is not your thing his books may see sort of corny and generic to you, almost like parody. Even though my skeptical side sees this, I also find the language calming and peaceful, radiating a sense of evenness. Surely, that’s how reading about love affects me: I mellow out and feel undisturbed by the waves of time, constantly in motion. I feel abstract and concrete at the same time. That is how I felt about The Third Jesus and certainly Buddha (since it was less about citation and more about sensation) I would rate those both as GET. But The Path to Love I would say CONSIDER, especially if you feel you don’t have love.

Overall, Chopra is a prolific author with a definite style and perspective. I find that alone worthwhile despite the message.

CONSIDER.

Reviews may continue to be written in this style, where the title indicates whether you should Avoid, Consider, or Get the item being reviewed. The first two books I borrowed from the library, the third one I bought in the clearance section of half price books for $2.

My husband and I are trying to read books together. Let me first recap on our book reading history:
1. He picked first, we read The Hobbit. It was fine, but you know, it’s the Hobbit. Having read it before, he read some of it and then stopped.
2. I picked Night, a short, true, and sad account of the holocaust by a survivor. Once he found out it was sad, he pretty much refused to read it. The books stayed checked out for over a year.
3. About two years later, we resumed with him picking The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It sucks.

 For the story that it ultimately aims to tell, The Elegance of The Hedgehog could have told better. With a little bit of editing, it could have told a slightly different story much better. The first half after the jump will remain spoiler free, the second half will not. Seeing as I don’t advise you read the book, I think you should read the spoiler section too.
The book is written in a quickly tiring journal entry style, like novels I remember from my childhood. The two main characters write in alternating entries. One is a concierge in her fifties, the other a young girl who is very intelligent for her age. They both live in the same building and mostly despise everyone else there. The concierge is well read and spends her days assuming the role of a moron, because she doesn’t want anyone to know. The little girl does this to a certain extend as well, as she feels her brilliance will bring unwanted attention. The girl intends to kill herself due to little faith in humanity. One day, a new tenant moves into the building and changes everything.

I understand that tone of the reasons for writing in first person is to show a bit of style for your character, but the concierge was maddening to read. There were so many superfluous adjectives, and the sentences never ended. The style is sensible for a journal entry, but it was exhausting to read. The girls entries were more bearable to read. Both had some good points and interesting moments. At its best, it still felt like a disjointed collection of opinions on different matters comprised into a loose telling a story about two similar souls.

 Here are the SPOILERS (for this book and Harry Potter):

A little more space here so you can’t accidentally see…

Just a little more…

Ok the concierge dies. she chases a homeless drunk man into the street and dies. And the little girl decides to live because the concierge dies. This is after waiting forever for the man mentioned on the back of the book to show up in the story, and only moments after he brings harmony to their lives. It almost seems like they can live happy, interdependent lives, without regarding the separation imposed upon them by society and their differing economic levels. The concierge dies as if to fulfill the prophesy of her sister, who also died after fraternizing with a different class. The concierge had grown up poor, and believed if she grew close to rich people, she would die. As soon as she did, well, she did. Die, that is. It also took 100 pages to get to the plot of the story, which makes sense I suppose if all you are going to do is kill someone. You’ve got to waste a bit of time first.

I’m not against killing some one off in a work of fiction. Let me clear that up. I am against spending a great deal of time divulging details and seemingly useless omens to them only ascribe to them in the end, after the character has chosen to abandon them. I am against people dying because an omen forbade them from talking to rich people. And, for that reason, it was an irrational and senseless death. She felt she died as a consequence of her better life, after chasing a drunk homeless man into the street. The real lesson here?

DON’T CHASE DRUNK HOMELESS MEN.

Especially when you’re life is going so good. It’s great that she felt love and all before she died, but letting someone experience love and then die is sort of like saying that love dies on earth, that once you are elevated above your depression you are released from your life. Which would mean that life is ultimately depressing while you live it. That I strongly disagree with, and feel a bit annoyed that I would spend time in my life, which I enjoy very much, reading a book that tells me that I don’t enjoy life, because if i did, I would be dead.

I know that I am manipulating a small point of the story to be more dramatic than it really is, but this is a protagonist that was killed at the end of a rather boring book. I guess I need the ends to justify the mean in literature, and even though the middle of the book was not all that bad, it lead to an unjustifiable end.

Of course, the ends don’t always justify with the means in life, but this was not a non-fiction story. I find lazy to let it end this way. And, if you are going to lazily end a story, make it a lazy happy ending, not a lazy disaster. Something about that seems so careless to me. I felt the same way about the 6th book of Harry Potter. Something about the circumstances leading to death were so lazy. Sure, the seventh book was about as good as it could be, but it had to heal the lazy death in the sixth. To be clear, I don’t have any issues with the death in the fourth book. I don’t think that no one should die in fiction, but i do think when you kill someone in responsible fiction, you need not make it lazy.

So. The Elegance of the Hedgehog started slow, became slightly interesting when the plot showed up, but then ultimately felt a bit lazy. The writer is a philosopher, and there is a lot of philosophy in the book, so perhaps there is a better interpretation for all this. Maybe it’s a better book than I understand. All the same, I did not like it.

AVOID.

Other random opinions: Consider, Seek, Consider with a very good point made about the title, Consider

My husband’s opinion? Consider, but he did major in philosophy.

Reviews may continue to be written in this style, where the title indicates whether you should Avoid, Consider, or Get the item being reviewed. I am assessing other reviewers opinions with the links to their articles. My husband’s opinion is based on our post book discussion.

Hey, remember this post? It was about Japan and English. Well, on the vein of explaining English, One fantastic book I have found is this: The Fight for English: How Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left by David Crystal. It gives a perfectly succinct history on English and how, in trying to make it a legitimate language, we borrowed from most everyone we thought was cool, only to eventually make it all hard to understand and random. For example, I didn’t know that we just added in Latin type spellings for words to show origins as an afterthought. It’s a quick read, good for short trips or a lazy afternoon. I’m somewhat surprised I didn’t study some of this in college.