Random Pabulum

Helen Keller in Love is the fictionalized, little known story of Helen Keller’s relationship with her temporary secretary Peter Fagan, while Annie Sullivan was potentially ill with tuberculosis.  It brings to light her radical socialist views.  This book also explores that while she has overcome her disabilities, she is still disabled when it comes to owning her own life.  It is based on a true story.

The only known photo of Peter Fagan

It is a risky venture to tell a story about a historical figure, whether or not that person is revered.  It takes a certain delicacy and sensitivity to be able to convey that person’s spirit and personality without taking away why they are influential or inspirational.  So, people who have the highest regard and admiration for Helen Keller should steer clear of this book.  It also portrays Annie in a negative light.

The resolution to the story is given at the beginning of the book, so a lot of the mystery and anticipation of what is to come is lost.  Knowing what will happen in the end at the beginning kind of made me uninterested in the story, despite already knowing the history.  For all I knew, it could’ve been an alternate history kind of take on the story.

Helen’s immediate attraction to Peter is far-fetched, suggesting that it is due to a man being in close proximity, that the attraction is circumstantial.  However, it is ambiguous enough for the reader to decide whether or not Peter is in it for the right reasons or for the  purpose of self-advancement.

Her socialist views are also a main point in this book, which after a while, became excessive and tired.

I felt at odds with Ms Sultan’s descriptions of Helen, her mother, and Annie’s relationships.  While they made sense, the control that her mother and Annie exert over Helen made me sad for her, that even though she had overcome diversity, they still remind her of how much she needs them constantly.  They are controlling, and it is heartbreaking to see how much Helen yearns to be free, but she knows she never will truly be so.

While Ms Sultan had the courage, or some may say the gall, to create a speculative fiction about the love affair between Helen Keller and Peter Fagan, I found it unenjoyable and a displeasing characterization of Helen and the people surrounding her.  The fact that you find out what happens in the end at the beginning killed this story for me.

2/5

The Edition I Read: Advance Galley

Helen Keller in Love.  Rosie Sultan.  2012.  $26.95.  ISBN # 978-0670023493

Rosie Sultan’s official website

started April 14, 2012; finished April 16, 2012

Grow Up was completely disarming.  I went into it not knowing what to expect.

Jasper wants to get on in the world, but he’s got a lot on his plate: A-levels, his mother pushing him to overachieve, weekly visits to his psychologist, comedowns, YouTube suicides and pregnant one-night-stands. Then there’s his stepdad - the murderer. 

Hilarious and heartbreaking by turns, Grow Up is the ultimate twenty-first-century coming-of-age novel. It paints a vivid portrait of the pills and thrills and bellyaches of growing up today. Funny, smart and twisted, it is the story of one young man transformed.

(via Goodreads)

When I requested this galley, I was kind of expecting a young adult thriller: a normal teenage boy dealing with normal teenage problems, except that he is living with a murderer.  What I got instead was a twenty-first century homage to Catcher in the Rye and Harmony Korine/Larry Clark’s Kids.  I was captured from the first chapter, and it was very difficult to put down, just because I was interested in Mr Brooks’ writing and in seeing where the protagonist, Jasper, was going to take us.

Grow Up is laden with drug use, sex, vulgar language, so it makes me question whether or not it is for young adults, or at least, tweens.  Jasper is self-centered, sometimes kind, often cruel, as many teenagers are.  His primary objective is to have sex with Georgia Treely, and if his path is lined with alcohol, drugs, and sex, he is not going to deny it.  Some of the situtations are humorous, some are cringeworthy, some are tender.

If you’re the type of person that prefers a linear story that has a plot, then Grow Up is not for you.  There is no real conflict, or the rise and fall of a typical book.  What you have here is a series of events in a teenager’s life and what happens when he achieves the greatest goal he has set for himself.  In that aspect, it is different.  Because Mr Brooks was a teenager when he wrote this, it is a credible and vivid story that makes me fearful, and almost sad, for this generation.

However, this is an honest portrayal of our youth, more so emphasized by the young author.  It’s not sophisticated, nor is it meant to be.  It is a simple story about a teenage boy and all of the thoughts that swirl around a teenage boys head.  If you’re expecting more than that, this is probably not for you.

3.5/5

The Edition I Read: Advance Galley

Grow Up.  Ben Brooks.  2012.  $14.  ISBN # 978-0143121091

Ben Brooks blog

Ben Brooks interview

started April 19, 2012; finished April 20, 2012

Julie Kagawa trades in her fairies for vampires in The Immortal Rules, the first installment of the planned Blood of Eden series.  The world as we know it no longer exists.  Vampires rule; humans are a source of food.  It is a world that humans are registered with the vampires, trading blood for food.  To be unregistered is a death sentence.  Allison Sekemoto, an unregistered, lives in the outskirts of the rich vampire city of New Covington.  By day, she and her small crew scavenge for food to survive.  At night, they hope not to become dinner.

A failed scavenger hunt leaves Allison alone, faced with the decision to either die or become the thing that she hates the most.  She is not ready to die, so she becomes a vampire.  She struggles with her immortality, and begrudgingly accepts, not embraces, it.  From her maker, she learns what it takes to be a vampire and to survive.

Soon, she is forced to flee, and ends up with a ragtag band of humans.  They are searching for Eden, a city comprised only of people.  Their objective is to find the cure to the disease that killed off humankind and created the rabids, the zombielike creatures that prey on man and vampire alike.  Fighting her nature, she must determine what is worth truly dying for.

This is my first experience with Ms Kagawa’s work.  The Immortal Rules is a thrilling, well-written vampire story, yet it lacks in originality.  Think the movie Daybreakers blended with The Hunger Games and Stephenie Meyer’s The Host, and you essentially have this story.  It is so hard to write an original vampire story because of the flux of vamp lit since the Twilight series, so it was definitely a challenge that I feel fell short for Ms Kagawa.

The writing is engaging and fast paced.  I killed this book in one day.  One of the great things about this book is that the vampires are not the glittery, sexy kinds.  They are menaces that are truly to be feared and avoided.  It’s so great to be able to read about vampires that aren’t romanticized.  I really liked Allison as the anti-hero.  She is, after all, one of the bad guys after her conversion.  Her struggles between her humanity and her immortality are credible.  Her backstory is heartbreaking.  While race is not a deal breaker in literature for me, it’s nice to see an Asian-American protagonist in a book that is targeted towards young adults.  Diversity, and such.

I think the most difficult thing for me to swallow was the romantic subplot between her and the second-in-command of the group of people she joins, Zeke.  While it exemplifies her wanting to overcome her vampiric nature, it’s just really awkward in this kind of story.  I really think that the romance could’ve been left out.  Peeta Mellark fans, be prepared to love Zeke.

I really respect Ms Kagawa as a writer.  Her lack of reverence for her characters is refreshing.  She isn’t afraid of violence, and the story is a lot darker due to her masterful stylings with prose.  Because of the fact that I really enjoyed her writing, I will definitely read the rest of this series.  I will also have to add her Iron Fey series to my ridiculously long list of to be read books as well.

3.5/5

The Edition I Read: Advance Galley

The Immortal Rules.  Julie Kagawa.  2012.  $18.99.  ISBN # 978-0373210510.

Julie Kagawa official website

Julie Kagawa blog

Immortal Rules book trailer

I had the privilege of reading an advance copy from the publisher.  There was no compensation made for my review; it is my own, unadulterated opinion

started April 5, 2012; finished April 6, 2012