OS Book Club Pt II

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Is anybody else picking up Children of Blood and Bone this week?

I've never been on the "ground floor" of a series launch before and I'm excited. From everything I've read over the past couple of months the hype is legitimate. The trilogy is already optioned for a movie deal resulting in one of the biggest young-adult publishing deals ever. The author is only 24 years old.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/books/sd-et-author-adeyemi-20180223-story.html

I'm going to finish Invisible Man tonight since I only have about 30 pages left. It has been an incredible book that is sociologically in-line with Du Bois. A fascinating story supported by fantastic prose. It's rhythmic flow makes it an "easy" read, but I hesitate to say that because I typically associated easy reads with speed and shallowness. Ellison's story is anything but as each sentence and paragraph is so full of nuance I found myself repeatedly going back re-reading sections at a time both in awe of the beauty of the writing and in contemplation of the questions he raises.

So finish that up and move on to Altered Carbon for some lighter reading compared to the past month. Then I'll be all set for Children of Blood and Bone.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I'm going to finish Invisible Man tonight since I only have about 30 pages left. It has been an incredible book that is sociologically in-line with Du Bois. A fascinating story supported by fantastic prose. It's rhythmic flow makes it an "easy" read, but I hesitate to say that because I typically associated easy reads with speed and shallowness. Ellison's story is anything but as each sentence and paragraph is so full of nuance I found myself repeatedly going back re-reading sections at a time both in awe of the beauty of the writing and in contemplation of the questions he raises.

I finished Invisible Man last night and it is truly a powerful book. A contemplation on the individual, the burden of his caste he carries, the responsibility he shoulders to better himself and his peers, and his journey of self-discovery in face of a larger society that is only interested in using him if they show any interest at all.

Even without diving into the broader picture of identity as a political tool or discussion this book is simply fascinating as a memoir on finding one's self. Often times we look at ourselves from the reflection in others' eyes and completely miss our own image and happiness in an effort to contort that reflection.

The broader sense of self in the face of politics and American identity is fantastic. To me Ellison's writings are as important for insight into an identity that is continuously ridiculed, used, and ground up by it's society as Du Bois' writings in The Souls of Black Folk. Ellison contemplates the division of self; the division between being an American and America tearing yourself along the perforation by denying and debasing your image to your own self. It's an incredible struggle that is powerfully rendered by Ellison's prose as the protagonist strives with his blind optimism for a bright, equal, Brotherhood of the future. To which the protagonist frays outside the seams under the burden of being a leader for his and others' struggle for equality and visibility.

Quite simply a fascinating and powerful book. It is maddening and depressing in it's morbid reality and the modern reality of little effective change since 1943.

Spoiler

I haven't smoked a reefer since; not because they're illegal, but because to see around corners is enough (that is not unusual when you're invisible). But to hear around them is too much; it inhibits action.

All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer.

"These white folk have newspapers, magazines, radios, spokesmen to get their ideas across. If they want to tell the world a lie, they can tell it so well that it becomes the truth; and if I tell them that you're lying, they'll tell the world even if you prove you're telling the truth. Because it's the kind of lie they want to hear..."

Who am I? I asked myself. But it was like trying to identify one particular cell that coursed through the torpid veins of my body.

Whoever else I was, I was no Samson. I had no desire to destroy myself even if it destroyed the machine; I wanted freedom, not destruction. It was exhausting, for no matter what the scheme I conceived, there was one constant flaw - myself. There was no getting around it. I could no more escape than I could think of my identity. Perhaps, I thought, the two things are involved with each other. When I discover who I am, I'll be free.

It was a painful position, for at the same time, Mary reminded me constantly that something was expected of me, some act of leadership, some newsworthy achievement; and I was torn between resenting her for it and love her for the nebulous hope she kept alive.

What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?

"And sometimes the difference between individual and organized indignation is the difference between criminal and political action."

There was no time for memory, for all its images were of times passed.

"But none of us got no true flag 'cause that flag don't really belong to us. They want a true flag, one that's as much theirs as anybody else's. You know what I mean?"
"Yes, I think I do," I said, remembering that there was always that sense in me of being apart when the flag went by. It had been a reminder, until I'd found the Brotherhood, that my star was not yet there...

Brother Jack frowned, "You're riding 'race' again. But how do they feel about the dolls?"
"I'm riding the race I'm forced to ride," I said.

I do not know if all cops are poets, but I know that all cops carry guns with triggers.

All boundaries down, freedom was not only the recognition of necessity, it was the recognition of possibility.

Everywhere I've turned somebody has wanted to sacrifice me for my good - only they were the ones who benefitted. And now we start on the old sacrificial merry-go-round. At what point do we stop? Is this the new true definition, is Brotherhood a matter of sacrificing the weak? If so, at what point do we stop?

And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone's way but my own.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Native Son by Richard Wright

I'll spoiler for length

Spoiler

This was an interesting ride. It's divided into 3 books, essentially parts. If I had reviewed it at the end of Book 1, I'd have given it a 2/5. At the end of Book 2, probably a 4/5. Reading the defense attorney's closing statement in Book 3, it just shoots up to a 6/5. The writing is very dense, lush with imagery and metaphors.

From a plot standpoint, it's about an black guy named Bigger Thomas in Chicago in the 40's who gets a job driving for a rich family, and on his first night driving for their daughter, ends up accidentally killing her. Yes, very strange. It gets even stranger when

Spoiler

he goes to dispose of her body and decides to burn her in the furnace. Her whole body doesn't fit so he has to put newspaper down and behead her with a hatchet.

It was odd to read. There were a few parts like that, not so brutal, but just...odd to read.

Wright takes a deterministic view in asking what are the effects of the poor living conditions that some have been relegated to live in. Bigger's lawyer in the end argues that the circumstances that led to his crime were not created by him, and that he was simply reacting to being thrown into someone else's world. Bigger thinks that his murder is the first time he's ever truly been alive and affirmed his humanity. I had to immediately go back and reread the Baldwin essay on it. I can understand why he would think Bigger is a caricature and not representative of any real person, but I think Wright saw that just the same. It's not that one person would do this, it's not about that one person at all. It's about how the circumstances drive you to a point where anyone could do anything and how dangerous that possibility is.

Invisible Man almost reads like a response to this in my mind at times. There's the obvious difference between Wright's affiliation to the Communist Party at the time and Ellison's rebuke of their ideals. But in Native Son, Bigger believes what he's been told about himself to the point where he sees his crimes as inevitable and becomes what he's been told he is, and Invisible Man's protagonist is all about breaking away from the characterization given to you by others and finding your own role.

My version had an essay at the end where he explains the origins of the character and the ideas behind the book. He mentions that he picked Chicago because it had such a stark contrast of ostentatious wealth on one end and bleak poverty on the other. I feel like that's gotta be one of the more interesting cities historically in the US. I had a lot of flashbacks to drill music and really just hip hop in general. Feels like there's an argument that those are expressions of the same kind of theme.

Spoiler

"So he held toward them an attitude of iron reserve; he lived with them, but behind a wall, a curtain. And toward himself he was even more exacting. He knew that the moment he allowed what his life meant to enter fully into his consciousness, he would either kill himself or someone else. So he denied himself and acted tough."

"He felt that they wanted and yearned to see life in a certain way; they needed a certain picture of the world; there was one way of living they preferred above all others; and they were blind to what did not fit. They did not want to see what others were doing if that doing did not feed their own desires. All one had to do was be bold, do something nobody thought of. The whole thing came to him in the form of a powerful and simple feeling; there was in everyone a great hunger to believe that made him blind, and if he could see while others were blind, then he could get what he wanted and never be caught at it."

"To those who wanted to kill him he was not human, not included in that picture of Creation; and that was why he had killed it. To live, he had created a new world for himself, and for that he was to die."

"How can law contradict the lives of millions of people and hope to be administered successfully? Do we believe in magic? Do you believe that by burning a cross you can frighten a multitude, paralyze their will and impulses?"

"Your Honor, remember that men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread! And they can murder for it, too! Did we not build a nation, did we not wage war and conquer in the name of a dream to realize our personalities and to make those realized personalities secure!"

It was so good I'm going right into his autobiography, Black Boy, shelving Frederick Douglass for now, and going into Children of Blood and Bone after BB. I'll figure out stuff going forward after that.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Patrick Rothfuss came out and said the Kingkiller Chronicle is actually a prologue and there will be more books in the universe after Book 3 comes out...Put that way, way back on the shelf. Not setting myself up for the GRRM okey doke.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

That's fine. It makes it easier to read other series like Mistborn, The Emperor's Blades, The Holy Grail Quest, Warlord Chronicles, and Protector of the Small first. Seriously, there's way too many great series to choose from to want to hop into Kingkiller right now only to end up waiting indefinitely for the next installment.

That is my one hesitation with starting off the ground floor of new series like Children of Blood and Bone, Belles, or Dread Nation; becoming invested in a series only to wait and wait for an ending or promise of one.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I'd think, at least in Children of Blood and Bones case, that her having already optioned the film rights would indicate she plans to push through fairly quickly and the releases will be streamlined, but we'll see.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I hope so. I feel like YA series generally do better releasing at a consistent pace and having a timeline established. Reading the comments of the articles with Rothfuss' quote it seems like your sentiment is shared by a lot of people.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Did you see Reese Witherspoon bought the TV rights for Little Fires Everywhere, and is gonna star in it with Kerry Washington? I'm glad it's a TV show instead of a movie, the extra time should do well in giving time to flesh out all the family.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Nice. I think there were some rumors about it being picked up for TV or by Reese when I finished it a couple months ago. A good development for Celeste Ng. It shouldn't be terribly difficult to adapt because the book lends itself to an episodic format very well I think.

It feels weird being ahead of the curve for once.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan

I suppose it's a prerequisite to adopt the K middle initial when writing sci-fi - especially if you're banking hard into a pulpy and gritty, noir thriller. As such, fragments of the world's foundation Morgan crafts and teases out is built upon from scraps of Philip K. Dick's vision for Blade Runner and A Scanner Darkly - flying cars, indistinguishable A.I., nostalgic weaponry, masked realities, and a stylish aesthetic of technological industrial. Morgan fills this world with the relative unseedy, gritty, and political intrigues accustomed to noir-thrillers and on the onset it staggers along as many other in the genre. Once the book collects it's legs beneath itself, however, is when it starts taking strides.

As the players are introduced and the basis of the narrative laid down Morgan explores a world hinged upon technology, but casts a set of characters that are timeless. While lacking any kind of perceptible depth most of the characters can be boiled down to a single sin: greed, infidelity, jealousy, etc. The protagonist is a hard-boiled mercenary, highly trained and skilled in special combat forces, roughed up on the edges thanks to a pessimistic outlook and sarcastic attitude. Takeshi Kovacs is a blank enough slate to fill shoes in a reader's imagination, but given enough of a personality and background to make interesting, likeable, and more importantly somebody to want to spend the better part of 400-500 pages with.

Coming on the heels of books like Beloved and Invisible Man Morgan's Altered Carbon isn't a heady trip filled with demons or an abundance of hard, soul searching questions. Morgan relies on his world-crafting, rather than his characters, to subtly pose questions to his readers: the life and consequence of an A.I., the immortality of technology and data, the tool of a religious body. While Morgan's novel isn't comparable, both in quality and density, to the aforementioned works he is clearly working within the confines of a specific box. There are parts that drive me wild as the story unfolds and pieces come together with little to no clues to their placement, but I recognize this is the workings of the genre rather than the lack of ability of the author.

For what it is Morgan does an excellent job crafting a world equally familiar and exotic and equally futuristic and primitive while filling it with a narrative that, by the end, has the reader pushing forward with a hunger for more. Morgan's writing is exceptional for the genre, but not quite definitive or genre-shaking compared the top of the class works. Still I found myself mesmerized as I watched the narrative unfold, characters circle around each other, and compelling action that felt impactful and forward moving. I had hesitations in the first half, but by the end I was wanting to jump into the next installment and follow Kovacs on another adventure.

Ultimately, Altered Carbon is a satisfying, highly entertaining read. Morgan boxes himself into the noir-thriller genre simultaneously limiting the book's potential for heady depth while filling the box with excellent prose. It's a book that caps itself, but rushes headlong at the ceiling and leaves with a bloody nose and ready for more.

Spoiler

Rich people do this. They have the power and they see no reason not to use it. Men and women are just merchandise, like everything else. Store them, freight them, decant them. Sign at the bottom please.

I'd seen this kind of thing from both sides, and there just isn't any solution except to do what my own ancestors had done. When you don't like the alws, you go somewhere they can't touch you.

There were no protests - you can't argue with a robot.

The personal, as everyone’s so ****ing fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry.

The past is relevant only as data.

The human eye is a wonderful device. With a little effort, it can fail to see even the most glaring injustice.

If you want to lose a fight, talk about it first.

We're not dealt in, we're thrown in, and after that it's just about keeping your head above water.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Black Boy by Richard Wright (the working, and better, title was American Hunger)

The best autobiography I've read to date. It's basically the non-fiction version of Invisible Man. Wright grew up in Mississippi and his tales of the pervasive fear that stood over his life go a long way in explaining how Native Son came to be (though he didn't mention it by name). He takes random asides in the middle of stories to just give philosophical insights in parentheses and those ended up being some of my favorite parts, one of which I recognized as a quote I'd written down a year or so ago.

The majority of the book takes place in his Mississippi upbringing, fighting against a religious family who didn't see the value in wanting to be a writer. He goes into painstaking detail chronicling his thoughts as a child, showing all of the ways the world he saw clashed with the one he wanted to live in. Later he moves to Chicago, sees the difference between life in the South and in the North, gets caught up with Communists, realizes there's no place for artists in a movement that stifles individuality, gets out of there. Just a really fascinating tale of events, all held together masterfully with Wright's style.

Spoiler

"A somberness of spirit that I was never to lose settled over me during the slow years of my mother’s unrelieved suffering, a somberness that was to make me stand apart and look upon excessive joy with suspicion, that was to make me self-conscious, that was to make me keep forever on the move, as though to escape a nameless fate seeking to overtake me.

"I had seen many Negroes solve the problem of being black by transferring their hatred of themselves to others with a black skin and fighting them."

"In buoying me up, reading also cast me down, made me see what was possible, what I had missed. My tension returned, new, terrible, bitter, surging, almost too great to be contained. I no longer felt that the world about me was hostile, killing; I knew it. A million times I asked myself what I could do to save myself, and there were no answers. I seemed forever condemned, ringed by walls."

"The essence of the irony of the plight of the Negro in America, to me, is that he is doomed to live in isolation while those who condemn him seek the basest goals of any people on the face of the earth. Perhaps it would be possible for the Negro to become reconciled to his plight if he could be made to believe that his sufferings were for some remote, high, sacrificial end; but sharing the culture that condemns him, and seeing that a lust for trash is what blinds the nation to his claims, is what sets storms to rolling in his soul."

"Writing had to be done in loneliness and Communism had declared war upon human loneliness."

On to Children of Blood and Bone.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Not really book related per se, but it's about one of my favorite authors and is a really captivating read:

https://themillions.com/2018/03/david-foster-wallace-david-lynch-and-the-horror-of-neuroscience.html

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Did you see Reese Witherspoon bought the TV rights for Little Fires Everywhere, and is gonna star in it with Kerry Washington? I'm glad it's a TV show instead of a movie, the extra time should do well in giving time to flesh out all the family.

Hulu got it.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

They really love book adaptations over there, I can dig it.

[War Eagle!]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Finished Invisible Man last night. I'd started listening to Joe Morton 5 narrate it on Kindle which made me realize I needed this book in print.

Identity is a difficult subject to face in life and the invisble man portrayed that quest brilliantly. The seesaw of a black mans journey that often finds him at odds with others no matter what he does.

What fascinated me is how relevant the issue still is today. I question myself often about my true motives when looking to help others and whether they are really good to others. Ellison captured this thought of mine in the epilogue when he said "I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest."

When I awoke from my slumber a few years ago I decided to live an honest life. In that time period disappeared many "friends", created were many lies and peculiar situations in the work place. And at the beginning I'd thought the honest life to be a noble idea, but the journey of identity has thrown all of that into question too..

All that to say Invisible Man is a must read. Especially if you aren't afraid of the tough answers you receive from the questions you ask of yourselves. What I think makes this book so wonderful is there is a piece of all of us within its pages.

Any suggestions for the next read?





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