Believe it or not, I have not read a single Toni Morrison book. After the TOB, perhaps I should read A Mercy http://tinyurl.com/c9ol9j
March 31st, 2009
Twilight, Vampires and Community
Tony Woodlief on what the Twilight series
We have fully reversed the symbolism of Stoker’s vampire, who represented a demonic assault on a virtuous community. Today’s vampire is the hip Other, and the community around him is either bungling, intolerant, or simply a source of comedic relief (as in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Lost Boys, and Fright Night, for example). The modern vampire is in touch with his sexuality, but the community suppresses it. The modern vampire is coming to take away your girlfriend, and she kind of likes it. The modern vampire is the guy you wish you had been in high school, or the guy you wish you’d dated in high school, and Meyer has turned that into gold.
The trouble with this evolution is that fictional monsters serve a valuable cultural purpose. They remind us that we live in communities, and that our communities must be defended from those who would rend them asunder. Though he is no conservative ideologue, Stephen King always seemed to fathom this intuitively. His stories and books featuring vampires made them evil through and through. The difference between his Salem’s Lot and Stoker’s Dracula is that King is also a bit of a dystopian, so while the community in Stoker’s novel worked together in the end to stop the menace, King lets the community fall. Still, he’s wise enough to know that creatures lacking in fundamental attributes of humanity don’t make for good neighbors.
By inverting the traditional vampire tale, so that the community is predatory and the monster an object of empathy if not admiration, we have found one more avenue along which to push the tired idea that community is, rather than a source of life and happiness, a locus of oppression. The Twilight series simply carries our modern love affair with the undead to its natural conclusion; the lovelorn vampire and the object of his infatuation get married and make a baby.
Update: Caitlin Flanagan begs to differ.
March 30th, 2009
The Circle of Stone: The Darkest Age III by A.J. Lake
When we last left Elspeth and Edmund they were traveling into the mountain to attempt to destroy the trickster god Loki with the crystal sword. I suppose it is a spoiler of a kind (but if you a reading a review of the third book you have to kinda suspect this) to say that they failed in that mission.
Instead, some treachery lead to Loki’s escape and wreaking of havoc on the world. The whole gang is forced to flee and re-evaluate just how they can destroy the monster before he destroys them and burns everything to the ground.
The last book in the Darkest Age trilogy, The Circle of Stone, finds them continuing on their quest and things are as bleak as they have ever been (and that is pretty bad in a series called The Darkest Age).
Despite temptations to go their different ways the group commits to sticking together. With the hope that Ioneth, the spirit behind the sword, is still there (although very faintly) Elspeth is determined to somehow find Loki and destroy him. But they have little luck finding anything but fire and destruction. Loki has split himself up and is as elusive as ever. Outside of the fires the only trace them seem to find of him is the growing cult of the Burning Man.
The challenge for Lake in this concluding book was to wrap up the story while at the same time keeping the reader guessing and provide an entertaining conclusion. In this she succeeds. The Stone Circle has plenty of twists and turns and ends with a powerful conclusion.
March 30th, 2009
Question for book sales tweepl…
Question for book sales tweeple: does a bestseller effect the author’s back list? Do new readers go back and read earlier books?
March 30th, 2009
This one for a good cause: Rea…
This one for a good cause: Real Eggs for the Hungry. Win a Kindle 2! http://twurl.nl/maj4x6 #tweggdrop