Book Review (Canon): Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go
Written by Kazuo Ishiguro in 2005

The Raccoon: Never Let Me Go illuminates the life of Kathy H., a former student at the peculiar boarding school, Hailsham.  She reflects on her childhood and how her and her friends’ destiny has shaped their lives.

UNMASKED: “All right, you can hear this, it’s for all of you. It’s time someone spelt it out…  The problem, as I see it, is that you’ve been told and not told.  You’ve been told, but none of you really understand, and I dare say, some people are quite happy to leave it that way.  But I’m not.”

These lines are the beginning of a speech from Miss Lucy, one of the guardians at Hailsham, in which she reveals to the main characters their purpose in life.  Ishiguro has strategically outlined the story so that the reader, too, is “told and not told.”  For example, I knew before I started reading it that Never Let Me Go is a dystopian novel, so certain truths were quickly accepted.  However, there are darker meanings to these that hit powerfully as the book climaxed, similar to when you are standing in the ocean and see a wave coming, but nonetheless are unprepared for the force of its impact.

Ishiguro mainly executes this dichotomy through Never Let Me Go’s nonlinear storyline.  Kathy’s narration jumps around and melts into various ideas as she is reminded of them, similar to how actual thoughts work.  Her tangents are the perfect length, which allowed me to fully understand a concept without forgetting what Kathy was talking about before she explained it.

The other aspect of Never Let Me Go that makes the book stand out is the relationships between characters.  Kathy and Ruth’s friendship has more substance than any other I have read, with their loyalty balancing their resentment and their gratitude balancing their regret over the span of their entire lives.  The interactions between the guardians and students are profound and often humorous, and, unlike most teachers in novels revolving around students, the guardians have established lives and conflicts outside of their time with the main characters.  This makes a reunion near the end of the novel much more impactful.

Never Let Me Go almost feels like reading the ocean.  Waves briefly rise and crash into each other, pulled by longer-lasting, deeper tides, and the tides in turn are the ocean’s way of saying “I’m here.  I’m somebody.”  Because of this, I see the novel as a statement acknowledging people who are seemingly invisible, the ones who silently suffer while they pull the carriages of high society.

Strong Points:

• Every character mentioned adds to the narrative in some way, and all of them are well-thought out, with layered emotions and motivations.
• The way Kathy tells the story perfectly aligns with her life experiences.  At times, she phrases things strangely or expects the reader to have come from a similar institution as she did.  Rather than sounding awkward, this adds to the realism of the novel.
• There are no questions left unanswered.

While the ending is rather depressing, I am unable to find anything wrong with this book.

Rating: 20/20 pieces taken for the Gallery

Ideal Setting: Read this before a long drive, to contemplate what all of your actions have been leading up to and to ensure that you do not have an audience when the book makes you cry.

CANDY BOX: An Open Letter to Neal Stephenson

To Neal Stephenson, author of Seveneves

Spoiler Warning: Assorted plot points of Seveneves

An artist's interpretation of the character Tekla

I want to start by saying that I loved the first two parts of your book (as well as the elegant, fitting palindrome as the title).  The characters are realistic and written in such a way that I was visibly distressed when they died.  The story is scientifically plausible, yet rivetingly unique.  By the last page, you have presented an honest but refreshingly patriotic, optimistic view of humanity and our treatment of one another.  As a cherry on top, the ending is the perfect, 600 page prologue for Veronica Roth’s “Divergent.”

An artist's interpretation of the Cloud Ark

Seriously.  The seven remaining humans decide that they will each modify one trait in their descendants’ personalities.  Furthermore, the Teklans value strength (and Dauntless, bravery), the Camites value compassion (and Amity, peace), and the Ivyns value intelligence (and Erudite, the same).  I would love it if Roth changed some details and announced that Seveneves was her book’s prequel.

All of this, and so much more, is why I have so much trouble understanding the rationale behind Part Three.

You skipped five thousand years to pick up the story with an entirely unrecognizable setting and cast of characters, losing me at the two first words: “Kath Two.”  Gone was the suspense of who would die or what new obstacle would appear each time I turned the page.  I stopped being excited to see how the characters (and you) would find a way out of each situation.

An artist's interpretation of the character Kath Two

In the Habitat Ring, there isn’t a sense of real conflict, despite the cold war between Red and Blue, because everyone is safe.  And even among all of the new technology and culture, I found the idea of the seven separate races to be flat and unrealistic, and I reached a point where I was skipping chapters at a time in an effort to reach the reveal that Kath Two’s explorations were leading up to without the other details bogging me down.  That reveal, when it was finally unveiled, was about as exciting as opening an oven to find the exact item that you placed in there.  At the very first mention of another human, I had already realized that Dinah’s father and Ivy’s fiance had succeeded in their respective survival plans.

Ultimately, you took a bold risk by picking up the story after such a substantial time skip, and I greatly respect that.  However, it didn’t work in your favor, and it’s difficult for me to tell others “You HAVE to read Seveneves-- just stop after Part Two.”  Although it would have been rough being left with the suspense of humanity’s fate if you had ended Seveneves after Part Two, your resolution visibly lacked what grounded the rest of the book.

Then again, maybe that’s my fault for not being able to embrace concepts when they are entirely unfamiliar.

Sincerely,

Jonah

Book Review (Canon): Romeo and/or Juliet

Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure

Written by Ryan North in 2016

The Raccoon: This choose-your-own-adventure book takes Shakespeare’s classic play and transforms it into a game with hundreds of options.

UNMASKED: Romeo and/or Juliet is one of only three books that I have not finished after starting them (the other two being Cat Warren’s "What the Dog Knows" and Emily Bronte’s "Wuthering Heights").  So what did I dislike about this book so much?

Nothing.  It’s just that one lifetime is not enough to explore an entire world.

North displays a vision of the star-crossed lovers entirely separate from Shakespeare's, including a Juliet who, forced to stay at home her entire life, has developed a passion for weightlifting. The line “You kiss by th’ book” actually refers to an entire collection:

• “Kiss It Better!  What YOU Can Learn from the World’s Greatest Kissers”
• “Reminiscing About Kissing: Sixty-Six Years of Sexy Smooches”
• “Basorexia!”
• “How to Press the Bacteria-Rich Outer Edge of Your Digestive Tract Against the Bacteria-Rich Outer Edge of Someone Else’s Digestive Tract and Exchange Fluids”

While some readers may not appreciate just how much liberty was taken with the exalted original work, I loved how every page brought a new surprise and all of the questions I was left with after reading the play were answered, albeit probably not in the way Shakespeare intended (for example, it is possible to overdose on Friar Lawrence’s sleep potion, and his other potions also last exactly 42 hours).

Romeo and/or Juliet is STUFFED with humor, and not a single word is wasted.  North also has ensured that every choice is rewarded with an expanded story, or raised eyebrows about my questionable morals on certain paths.  While I may never see all of the possibilities within this book, I’m already looking forward to picking it up again.

Strong Points:

• I actually laughed out loud at many of the jokes, and there are certain choices specifically intended for comedic effect (for example, ‘Learn more about eating’ and ‘Actually wish to be that glove’) that provide the opportunity for even wilder paths without taking away from the rest of the story.
• Every ending has a drawing, done by a different artist, which gives the novel a comic book feel and creates images even more funny than the text.
• The drawing of Romeo and Juliet’s iconic first kiss is a surprisingly effective tool for centering the reader and giving them a sense of accomplishment for reaching this point.

Weak Points:

• The book makes very little sense if you haven’t previously read Shakespeare’s play.
• The beginning is repetitive.  By my sixth run, I memorized the page of the first meaningful choice and started skipping to there.
• This book takes a lot of work to complete.  Certain paths take ages to branch out, and there is an entire Midsummer Night’s Dream section within the book that I haven’t found out how to get to.  The reader has to be willing to repeat sections multiple times to find the subtle entrances to new paths.
• Alternatively, another strong point earned for the fact that there is an entire Midsummer Night’s Dream section.

Rating: 19/20 points in Nurse Quest

Ideal Setting: Read this in front of your English professor or anyone who says that Shakespeare’s work is the zenith of the English language.  Shove it in his/her face.  There is an entire world of more interesting possibilities than what’s written in the play.

Book Review (Rucksack): The Tortilla Curtain

The Tortilla Curtain

Written by T.C. Boyle in 1995

The Raccoon: The Tortilla Curtain shows the hardships of immigration and racism in America through the eyes of suburban writer Delaney Mossbacher and Mexican immigrant Cándido Rincón.

UNMASKED: I don’t believe that happy endings are necessary; in life, sometimes our greatest efforts don’t result in success.  However, I believe in spiritual justice: suffering must mean something.  The character who has suffered needs to experience triumph or closure, such as knowing that someone else will be spared now that they have been oppressed.  Even in reality, humanity has risen above even the harshest atrocities to bring something positive to the world.  While victims of the American slave trade and the Holocaust were powerless to escape at the time, their faith and the willpower of the survivors led to the creation of organizations determined to protect human rights.

When the Africans were forcibly removed from their families and planted into a new country where they were treated as animals, they did not surrender.  When the Jews had entire countries turn on them and slaughter them hundreds at a time, they did not surrender.  Yet, when Delaney’s car was stolen, he surrendered.  When the labor exchange closed, Cándido surrendered.

This is why I can’t endorse the Tortilla Curtain.  Boyle’s writing style was descriptive enough to give me clear images of various characters and locations that I still remember as clearly as if I had seen them, and the relationships between his characters are disturbingly real.  Nonetheless, it is impossible to empathize with any of it.  By the time I reached the last page, in which a character finally has a change of heart, it wasn’t believable, for the characters had already gone too far over the edge too long ago.

The story in Tortilla Curtain leaves a lot to be desired as well.  The plot is a downward spiral of the lives of Delaney’s and Cándido’s families, each of them experiencing one hardship after another, and each one bringing their stories closer together, until at the bottom point, everyone is screwed over together.

This method has worked in other books, where the spiral culminates about three quarters of the way through the book, and the newly united characters work together to bring down the force that had oppressed them.  However, Tortilla Curtain ends at rock bottom, and, as the tides of the American and Mexican families spin closer and closer together, it only breeds more animosity.

Strong Points:

• The Tortilla Curtain is realistic and provides insight into people’s instinctive reactions when faced with prejudice and obstacles of varying degrees of difficulty.

Weak Points:

• This book is very specific to late 20th century/early 21st century Southern California, and it is hard to relate to many aspects of the story without living there.
• By the end of the novel, I hated everyone except the minor character Dominick Flood, and even he was a criminal.  Racism clouds the minds of every character until their decisions are impossible to respect.  Understandably, this was likely intentional, but it made for a very difficult read.
• The Tortilla Curtain is a series of unfortunate events, with no recoveries or respites to counterbalance them.

Rating: 11/20 feet of fencing

Ideal Setting: Read this when you’re having a bad day to remind yourself that it could be MUCH worse.

Book Review (Canon): Modern Romance

Modern Romance: An Investigation

Written by Aziz Ansari in 2015

The Raccoon: Comedian Aziz Ansari describes the results of his extensive research project about technology's influence on dating in the past decade.

UNMASKED: Writing a book as a stand-up comedian is an incredibly difficult undertaking.  There is so much pressure to be funny, regardless of the subject matter.  With this in mind, it’s no wonder that there a lot of jokes in Modern Romance.  Some of them made me laugh as much as Ansari’s routines have, such as an aside that “How do we figure out when to call, when to text, and when to just drop everything, stand outside someone’s window, and serenade them with your favorite nineties R&B tune, perhaps ‘All My Life’ by K-Ci & JoJo?”; others completely backfired, such as a repetitive tangent on a senior citizen who was obsessed with donuts.

What makes Ansari a comedic genius, and what translates much better into this book than the intentional jokes, is how he relates to people.  Ansari is known for calling people up on stage to discuss their lives during his performances.  While any other research book would simply say something along the lines of, “John, a firefighter, said that the economy was affecting his job,” when referencing a person interviewed, Ansari gave me a glimpse into the mindset of many of the people he consulted, often showing the next few lines of the conversation after someone responded to his question.

Ansari makes an effort to communicate with the reader as well.  He began the book with an embarrassing example from his own dating life, and he humorously recounted some of the awkward situations he encountered when hosting focus groups in Tokyo and Buenos Aires.

This casual tone helped me to comfortably navigate the cornucopia of insightful information and detailed advice that Modern Romance offers, which, written in any other way, likely would have been overwhelming. In his introduction, Ansari acknowledges the many scientists who helped him compile the content, and the book reflects just how much time and energy went into it.  Although written by a comedian, Modern Romance is a book that anyone struggling to connect with other people in today’s phone-obsessed culture will benefit from and enjoy reading.

Strong Points:

• The book shows how society has changed over time and includes graphs and personal stories from the past several decades.
• Ansari acknowledges that there were areas he had to leave out, and yet there is an incredibly wide range of information given.

Weak Points:

• Certain tangents and jokes feel forced and are a boring distraction from the rest of the book.  It almost seems as if there is a joke quota Ansari’s publisher required.

Rating: 18/20 Tinder matches

Ideal Setting: Read this before going on a first date so you can realize just how absurd American dating culture has become.  Or before travelling to France, Japan, and Argentina, to be terrified for very different reasons.

Book Review (Canon): The Interestings

The Interestings

Written by Meg Wolitzer in 2013

The Raccoon: The Interestings follows the lives of six friends after they meet at a summer camp for the arts, from their teen years to their sixties.  The book centers around Jules Jacobson, an aspiring actress, as she deals with her envy of her best friends’ fame and success.

UNMASKED: In one episode (“Mortynight Run”) of the whimsical, sci-fi TV show Rick and Morty, much of the action takes place in an arcade that the two titular characters visit.  The main attraction at the arcade is a game called “Roy: A Life Well Lived.”  Players dawn a virtual-reality helmet and assume the identity of an average person named Roy, then live out his entire life and finish the game upon his death, at which point the player is thrust back into reality and forced to cope with the trauma of having experienced an entire lifetime of new memories and relationships in the span of about five minutes.

That is the best way to describe my experience reading The Interestings.

Although the first chapter provided a rocky and rather corny start, it lay the foundation for me to see the world through the eyes of the awkward Julie Jacobson, whose life is drastically altered after her acceptance into a group of friends who dub themselves “The Interestings” (and christen her Jules, a name which she keeps throughout the remainder of the novel).  I cannot help but be bothered by the fact that this was the last time the title or the vibe of that particular scene was referenced again in the novel, yet it clearly has a lasting impact on Jules, and it is incredibly interesting to see how she compares, consciously or subconsciously, the state of her life throughout important moments to how she felt in this beginning moment.

The allure of the book comes out of this: all of the characters face various, real obstacles, from having to give up on a dream career to struggling with depression; as well as triumphs, such as being reunited with a long-lost family member and being granted second chances; and their actions and thoughts are a keen and fierce reminder of what it means to be human.  Wolitzer has a remarkable wisdom of the sides of people that we aren’t proud of, as well as how inner character triumphs.  This is best shown in the character of Ethan, who confesses to Jules that he worries he will never love his autistic son as much as he loves his gifted daughter, and, who, despite his wealth, is unable to make a real difference with his charity foundation.

Although there are flaws with this book, I found myself wanting to defend it because of how much it has affected my worldview.  Reading The Interestings was a journey, and I feel victorious to have come through it with a new understanding of love, time, and acceptance.

Strong Points:

• The novel is entirely realistic without sacrificing story-defining events.
• I felt as if I was saying goodbye to my closest friends when I finished the last page.  Wolitzer allowed me to empathize with characters in situations I was completely unfamiliar with, a feat most authors cannot grasp.

Weak Points:

• Romantic relationships between characters develop unnaturally quickly.
• Most of the minor characters are one-dimensional.
• Not a weak point, but I’m giving this book a trigger warning on rape, depression, and brainwashing.  The Interestings understands that the world isn’t fair or even morally justifiable sometimes.
• The title is irrelevant.

Rating: 16/20 Figland spin-offs

Ideal Setting: Read this anywhere, at any time.  The Interestings touches all aspects of life.

Book Review (Rucksack): Catch-22

Catch-22

Written by Joseph Heller in 1961

The Raccoon: The non-linear writing of Catch-22 mocks the stupidity of war as it tells the story of air force pilot Captain John Yossarian and his desperate efforts to be sent home.

UNMASKED: Catch-22 reads like the ramblings of a madman, which is precisely why it’s so compelling.  Heller is trying to convince us that war is unnecessary and irrational, and, as I explored Heller’s imagined U.S. Army base on Pianosa, the message became more and more clear.

Every character is fundamentally disturbed in some way, and even the simplest conversations made me laugh as I watched these crazy personalities collide.  The individual chapters dedicated to certain characters go even further into the skewed logic that they each possess.  The most memorable of these is the saga of Milo, the personification of capitalism, who has three chapters named for him that describe the rise and fall of his market syndicate.  Heller sets this up with a conversation in which Milo explains how he buys eggs for seven cents apiece and sells them for five cents apiece, yet makes a profit because he smuggles them into another city to sell to himself, and the arc evolves into Milo fighting battles from both the American and German sides to make money from each army separately.

Among the multi-layered satire, however, Catch-22 holds a disturbing lesson.  The law of Catch-22 itself, appearing repeatedly as Yossarian’s main obstacle, reveals the power of fear and how the government utilizes it to further its own ends.

Strong Points:

• Heller knows when the humor has to stop to avoid disrespecting the trauma of war.
• All of our grievances with the government are addressed and justified.

Weak Points:

• Almost all of the characters are clearly defined as good or bad, and several of the officers lack depth.
• The writing style of Catch-22 is identical to Neal Shusterman’s Challenger Deep, with Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as a close sibling. Having previously read the other two, the humor was too repetitive for me to fully enjoy this one, and I warn you not to oversaturate this type of humor.
• Many conflicts are left unresolved.

Rating: 17/20 /35/50/80 missions

Ideal Setting: Read this after your girlfriend claims to have no preference for dinner, then rejects every one of your ideas. Or when your boyfriend complains that you took too long to get ready, but somehow he didn't find the time to put on something more presentable than yesterday's shirt and the sneakers he’s had since college. Your buddy Joseph Heller gets that.