Plot Synopsis: When Anastasia Steele interviews wealthy, young entrepreneur Christian Grey for the college newspaper, she thinks that this is all that will come of them. But Christian keeps appearing in her life - from a visit to the hardware store where she works to a drunken night at the bar. Ana is intrigued by this powerful man, but she got more than she bargained for when she discovers Christian wants her to be his submissive for their sexual pleasure. Yet Ana is so caught up in the mystery and intrigue of Christian Grey, she follows through with his proposal and so begins their mercurial relationship. Can Ana, a regular shy bookworm, really handle being dominated and pleasured by famous, super-rich, super-refined CEO Christian Grey? Is this really what she wants in a relationship?
Literary Analysis: It's hard to say why Fifty Shades of Grey became a bestseller. Erotica has been around for ages, so why does this piece get picked out of thousands to be graciously published as "romantic fiction"? Well, Fifty Shades started out as a Twilight fanfiction story called Master of the Universe. Cheesy, right? After being flagged as sexually explicit and removed from fanfiction.net, James put it up on her own website. The viewership kept growing and finally, a publisher picked it up. The story got a new title and character names were changed. Bella became Anastasia and Edward became Christian. So, Fifty Shades of Grey is the adult version of Twilight and putting sex in with a best-selling series simply draws a crowd! The crowd hypes the story and suddenly, you have a massive bestseller on your hands.
Understanding the story's history and evolution makes it easier to understand why this book is awful from a literary standpoint. For a girl who is supposed to be an English major, Ana has a limited vocabulary to describe everything she is feeling. Yet, even though attention to word choice is sadly lacking, the characters are well developed through their thoughts and minute actions. That is to be expected if the author is simply borrowing already developed characters from another set of novels (very convenient). The plot is loose since the conflict lacks real depth. At any time, Ana can walk away and the problem is solved. Or Christian will open his eyes and see that they're not compatible and never will be (or that he's screwed up and needs a better therapist). But Ana is a terribly self-deprecating woman who enjoys making things more complicated than they should be. That, and the mystery of Christian's background continue to propel the reader forward, always wondering what new factoid will be revealed.
Personal Reaction: Ugh, I hate this book. I hate it so much I love it. Does that make sense? Unlike Hopeless' cheese factor, this book has an unnerving weird factor to it. I think it has something to do with the vocabulary used to describe everything. When Anastasia is amazed or entranced by Christian, she says, "Oh my..." Oh my? Really? What woman looks at a good-looking man and says, "Oh my!" Maybe southern belles in the 1850s, definintely NOT in modern times, and definitely NOT in Seattle (where the story is set). Next, Ana describes everything Christian does to her as making her feel "delicious." Ugh. Cheesecake is delicious. Fettuccine alfredo is delicious. Someone kissing your neck is NOT delicious.
In fact, let's discuss the sex scenes. So many sex scenes... that are so random, so cringe-worthy, whether or not they involve the Red Room of Pain. Most of what Christian says during these moments is downright unrealistic. No man would ever utter these words. "I'm in awe of you, Miss Steele." UGH! And Ana at these moments is just as intolerable. She keeps describing what her Inner Goddess is doing - hiding behind the couch, doing summersaults - it's WEIRD. She needs therapy or some drugs to keep her schizophrenia in check. On top of all this is the sexual tension between the characters constantly being described as a "heady cocktail" or "heady mix..." Heady, heady, heady...I have learned to despise this word and I feel sick every time my eyes see it on the page. And finally on the topic of sex, why is biting one's lower lip a turn on? Sure, Bella does it in Twilight, but seriously - who bites their lower lip? I've never seen anyone do it...ever. It's an uncommon action and referenced far too much in this novel.
There is too much space used in Fifty Shades of Grey to describe what Christian is wearing. He pretty much always wears the same thing, so why is it so crucial to continue to tell the reader that he's (once again) wearing a white linen shirt, black jeans, and a gray/black jacket? Oh, I'm sorry - sometimes he's wearing gray sweatpants that hang "deliciously loose" on his hips. Oh my... I wish the editor of this book would have given E.L. James a heads up and eliminated these repetitive clothing descriptions.
My last real problem is Ana's issue with food. Christian is big on making sure Ana eats, but she's never hungry (unless she's hungry for sex) and when she eats, she barely eats anything. There are no explanations as to why Ana is never hungry, but this anorexic undertone is almost more disturbing than the sex descriptions! Even I'm cheering for Christian, hoping he'll tie her to the rack and force feed her. Eat something, damn it! A little more than 3 oysters!
Okay, now that I got that off my chest, I still (embarrassingly) enjoyed this book. There is something captivating about it. I want to know what Christian is hiding - why he doesn't like being touched, what his issue with food is, why Elena did what she did with him... I don't like not knowing something and I'm driven to continue reading because of it. Secondly, some things remind me of my own relationship with my husband and as I read in bed, I looked over at him and realized how happy I was that he likes holding me close and how much I enjoy the way he smiles when he looks at me. Even the back and forth e-mails made me remember how we used to do that when we first started dating. Perhaps it's that feeling that makes me love this book. If a book can intrigue you AND remind you of how good you have it, wouldn't you label that as a success?
Final Rating: 8/10. I must deduct points for poor, embarrassing descriptions and annoying characters, but damned if I didn't enjoy reading this book to the point that I immediately dived into Fifty Shades Darker.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - by Philip K. Dick
Plot Synopsis: Set in the future, Earth has become a rather dismal place due to nuclear war and the subsequent nuclear fallout. Most animals are extinct, but those that exist are bought at an exorbitant price and are a sign of status in this new society. While most Earthlings have left the planet to live on Mars and other colonies, those that have stayed cling to Mercerism (a type of religion?) to help them cope with loneliness.The novel follows the lives of two people - Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter, who hunts human-like robots known as androids. Androids are banned on Earth, because they are used as slave labor off-planet and have had tendencies to kill their human masters. Then there's John Isidore, a man whose intelligence has been slowly fading due to the fallout. Rick and John's lives converge when Rick begins hunting a list of androids, some of whom take refuge in John's company.
Literary Analysis: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was originally a short story that Philip K. Dick expanded into a novel. It feels that way. Whole chapters are reserved for character development, as if Dick's idea of making a short story into a novel only entails adding more detail without regard to the plot. Some details, such as Mercerism, are left ambiguous to the reader even though they take up considerable space in the span of the story. The plot is one-note. There are no sub-plots. The setting is wildly interesting, yet Dick devotes most of his attention to characters, rather than the more interesting world around them.
Personal Reaction: The old 1982 movie Blade Runner is based off of this book. While the plot concept is interesting, the execution has something to be desired. The fact that there is only one plot line really makes the reading slow going, particularly chapters that have nothing to do with the plot at all. Buying scarce animals is interesting, but it has no impact on the story. Mercerism infiltrates all parts of the story, but is never fully explained in black and white...or even gray for that matter...and so the end of the novel is disappointing if not confusing. I love dystopian novels. I love nuclear war aftermath type stories, but this one is so caught up in the mundane plot that it sadly doesn't go into more detail about the interesting world that it is supposed to be set in.
Final Rating: 6/10 - A slow read (until the end...), a shallow plot, lack of detail when it comes to the setting, and missing definitions of crucial components in the story all contribute to the 6/10 rating. Again, the story has a great concept, but a poor execution.
Literary Analysis: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was originally a short story that Philip K. Dick expanded into a novel. It feels that way. Whole chapters are reserved for character development, as if Dick's idea of making a short story into a novel only entails adding more detail without regard to the plot. Some details, such as Mercerism, are left ambiguous to the reader even though they take up considerable space in the span of the story. The plot is one-note. There are no sub-plots. The setting is wildly interesting, yet Dick devotes most of his attention to characters, rather than the more interesting world around them.
Personal Reaction: The old 1982 movie Blade Runner is based off of this book. While the plot concept is interesting, the execution has something to be desired. The fact that there is only one plot line really makes the reading slow going, particularly chapters that have nothing to do with the plot at all. Buying scarce animals is interesting, but it has no impact on the story. Mercerism infiltrates all parts of the story, but is never fully explained in black and white...or even gray for that matter...and so the end of the novel is disappointing if not confusing. I love dystopian novels. I love nuclear war aftermath type stories, but this one is so caught up in the mundane plot that it sadly doesn't go into more detail about the interesting world that it is supposed to be set in.
Final Rating: 6/10 - A slow read (until the end...), a shallow plot, lack of detail when it comes to the setting, and missing definitions of crucial components in the story all contribute to the 6/10 rating. Again, the story has a great concept, but a poor execution.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
Plot Synopsis: Seventeen year old Sky has lived a pretty sheltered life. Her adopted mother does not believe in technology and homeschools Sky until her senior year. After her first day in public school, Sky has a chance encounter at the grocery store with Holder, a handsome boy with a violent reputation. Something about Holder makes the usually composed Sky jittery and yet excited. They slowly become closer with one another and this begins opening an avalanche of truths about Sky's life that she could never have imagined...
Literary Analysis: Colleen Hoover is an over-analyst The story is told in first person through Sky's eyes and the amount of detail that goes into Sky's thought processes and subtle movements can be overwhelming. Nonetheless, there's something wonderful about that over-analyzing that makes the reader understand why Sky does what she does and it's fun to see her put the pieces together. There are a few ends that are tied a little too easily together, when the reader will react with a, "Really? That's it?! How convenient!" Yet, the story moves forward, particulary 60% in when things get very interesting...
Personal Reaction: I'll be honest - I didn't realize this was an adolescent novel. I'd say it's for 16 year olds and up since there are a few parts of the novel I'd label "soft erotica." There's a cheesy factor in this book that was really hard for me to overlook. There's a lot of neck kissing...too much neck kissing. Too many hands caressing faces. Too many awkward moments that made me cringe for Sky...and even more for Holder, who has to deal with this crazy teenage girl! Too many descriptions of Holder rubbing the back of his neck and running his hands through his hair. It's cheesy! Another part I hate is when authors, who clearly love books, create characters who really love books to the point that they don't even live in the real world. Sky declares, "I need a chapter break," when she wishes life would just stop. UGH. It's like writing a book about writing a book or a movie about making a movie. It's weird. You shouldn't do it. Yet, I read the book in 5 days (at leisure) and I was intrigued by the plotline. The ending is a "happily ever after" despite Sky claiming, "This isn't going to be a happily ever after..." Okay, whatever - everything seems fine to me, so what's the problem?
Final Rating: 6/10. Points were deducted for the cheesy factor, the convenient resolutions to certain plotlines, and a somewhat psychotic narrator.
Literary Analysis: Colleen Hoover is an over-analyst The story is told in first person through Sky's eyes and the amount of detail that goes into Sky's thought processes and subtle movements can be overwhelming. Nonetheless, there's something wonderful about that over-analyzing that makes the reader understand why Sky does what she does and it's fun to see her put the pieces together. There are a few ends that are tied a little too easily together, when the reader will react with a, "Really? That's it?! How convenient!" Yet, the story moves forward, particulary 60% in when things get very interesting...
Personal Reaction: I'll be honest - I didn't realize this was an adolescent novel. I'd say it's for 16 year olds and up since there are a few parts of the novel I'd label "soft erotica." There's a cheesy factor in this book that was really hard for me to overlook. There's a lot of neck kissing...too much neck kissing. Too many hands caressing faces. Too many awkward moments that made me cringe for Sky...and even more for Holder, who has to deal with this crazy teenage girl! Too many descriptions of Holder rubbing the back of his neck and running his hands through his hair. It's cheesy! Another part I hate is when authors, who clearly love books, create characters who really love books to the point that they don't even live in the real world. Sky declares, "I need a chapter break," when she wishes life would just stop. UGH. It's like writing a book about writing a book or a movie about making a movie. It's weird. You shouldn't do it. Yet, I read the book in 5 days (at leisure) and I was intrigued by the plotline. The ending is a "happily ever after" despite Sky claiming, "This isn't going to be a happily ever after..." Okay, whatever - everything seems fine to me, so what's the problem?
Final Rating: 6/10. Points were deducted for the cheesy factor, the convenient resolutions to certain plotlines, and a somewhat psychotic narrator.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon
Plot Synopsis: The U.S. and Russia are headed towards nuclear war, only, unlike in real life, the worst did occur--the bombs were dropped. Enter in a host of memorable characters: Sister Creep, a "bag lady" who magically survives the ordeal by sleeping in a subway tunnel; Swan, a little girl with a green thumb and a trailer trash mother; Roland Croninger, a video game, gun enthusiast who just happens to have a survivalist father. There are many more characters and their plight after the nuclear disaster is told in bits and pieces. How do they survive a 7 year nuclear winter? And how will they survive when the greatest evil hasn't even fallen yet?
Literary Analysis: Swan Song is an exceptionally complex novel. Complex in a good way. The way McCammon weaves the stories of a number of characters together is truly a phenomenal feat. Despite the sheer amount of characters being followed chapter after chapter, there's really no need to create a list to keep them all straight. Each character is described memorably enough that it's quite easy to remember who each of them are. The chapters always end with a suspenseful grip that keeps you reading and wanting more.
Personal Reaction: Did I mention that Swan Song is almost 900 pages? I blew through this novel in about a week, because it was just so interesting. One part of the book that caught me off guard was the magical/fantasy elements. I had read the summary and said, "Okay, sounds good." I was expecting something along the lines of The Road, except with a female heroine. But this was not that novel. For example, (don't worry, no spoilers here), Sister Creep finds a circle of glass with jewels inside of it...supposedly a product of the nuclear blast on a glass/jewelry store. Okay, so this glass is pretty and valuable (if money means anything after nuclear armageddon), but then Sister holds the glass and the jewels pulse in color and brightness and she "dreamwalks" to where Swan is at a given moment. This is weird. I understand it's being used as a means to get Sister and Swan to one day meet up, but it's still quite strange. There are other examples of magic, but that would spoil the plot...really, what I'm trying to get it is that it's unusual for a book that seems to take the effects of nuclear war so seriously.
Final Rating: 8/10 - Subtracting 1 point for using magical elements that really seem rather unnecessary in the grand scheme of things and 1 point for some rather bland chapters which lead to the book's whopping 900 pages.
Literary Analysis: Swan Song is an exceptionally complex novel. Complex in a good way. The way McCammon weaves the stories of a number of characters together is truly a phenomenal feat. Despite the sheer amount of characters being followed chapter after chapter, there's really no need to create a list to keep them all straight. Each character is described memorably enough that it's quite easy to remember who each of them are. The chapters always end with a suspenseful grip that keeps you reading and wanting more.
Personal Reaction: Did I mention that Swan Song is almost 900 pages? I blew through this novel in about a week, because it was just so interesting. One part of the book that caught me off guard was the magical/fantasy elements. I had read the summary and said, "Okay, sounds good." I was expecting something along the lines of The Road, except with a female heroine. But this was not that novel. For example, (don't worry, no spoilers here), Sister Creep finds a circle of glass with jewels inside of it...supposedly a product of the nuclear blast on a glass/jewelry store. Okay, so this glass is pretty and valuable (if money means anything after nuclear armageddon), but then Sister holds the glass and the jewels pulse in color and brightness and she "dreamwalks" to where Swan is at a given moment. This is weird. I understand it's being used as a means to get Sister and Swan to one day meet up, but it's still quite strange. There are other examples of magic, but that would spoil the plot...really, what I'm trying to get it is that it's unusual for a book that seems to take the effects of nuclear war so seriously.
Final Rating: 8/10 - Subtracting 1 point for using magical elements that really seem rather unnecessary in the grand scheme of things and 1 point for some rather bland chapters which lead to the book's whopping 900 pages.
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