Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy has hit on something. People really like reading about teenagers sticking it to the man in a future America that is no longer America. In a Barnes and Noble the other day a whole booth was dedicated to the Hunger Games. With the first movie coming out in a few months who can blame them? One of the items was a journal with "Down with the Capitol!" on the front. I have to say it was kind of cool, if journals can be cool.
Now it seems Collins has spawned a veritable sub-genre of science fiction dystopian young adult fiction. I've never coined a term before, so I coin it SFDYAF (pronounced "Sphid-yaf"). I'm almost positive it will catch on.
Anyway, more books are popping up in the SFDYAF category. As I write my wife is reading Marie Lu's Legend. I haven't gotten to that one yet, but I did recently finish Veronica Roth's Divergent. I can't say that I enjoyed it as much as The Hunger Games, nor was it as crisply and economically written. But I still enjoyed it.
Here's the premise: It's Chicago, sometime in the future. There is no United States, and the city (which is largely abandoned and falling apart) is surrounded by a fence, though it is unclear what the fence is actually for. But this is but one detail that I'm sure will be resolved further in the trilogy. Yes, it appears that SFDYAF books come in threes. The city is divided into five factions, each of which are united around a specific virtue they believe is necessary for peace. These five factions are Amity, Erudite, Candor, Abnegation, and Dauntless.
When Beatrice, our heroine, comes of age and must choose her faction for life she leaves Abnegation, her family's faction, for Dauntless. But before I give too much away of the plot, I merely note two central points. First, Beatrice doesn't exactly fit into any faction, which she finds is quite a sticky place to find oneself. Second, things aren't as peaceful between the factions as they seem.
I hope Chicago doesn't turn into the city of Divergent (though the zip line from the top of the Hancock Tower would be cool), but I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Unless, that is, SFDYAF prophecies turn true and I have to fight off monsters and totalitarian governments in the mean time.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Top Ten of 2011
Here are my favorite books of 2011. Two qualifications: (1) I've not included perennial favorites that I've already read; (2) these are listed in the order that I read them rather than the order that I enjoyed them.
1. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games trilogy. Technically three books, but whatever. Dark, violent, compelling, and relentlessly intense.
2. D. A. Carson, The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story. Great overview of the Bible's central story line with a view to a biblically illiterate audience.
3. Richard Russo, Straight Man. Very funny. Not my favorite Russo but still enjoyable.
4. P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and the Tie That Binds. Brilliant and hilarious. The first Wodehouse I've read. I'll read more.
5. Eugene Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. A first-hand account of the American assault on two Japanese-held islands. While war may be necessary at times, there is no glory in it.
6. Alan Jacobs, Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant. A collection of essays from a great essayist.
7. Mike McKinley, Church Planting is for Wimps: How God Uses Messed-Up People to Plant Ordinary Churches That Do Extraordinary Things. Very encouraging book on church planting and church revitalization.
8. David Dickson, The Elder and His Work. A 19th century book on the elder's pastoral work. It's brevity is a plus.
9. Michael Korda, Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. Great biography of a fascinating man.
10. Alan Jacobs, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Jacob's second mention on this list. A book for people who love books.
Honorable mention: Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Two-thirds through at the moment. Otherwise probably would have made it on the list.
1. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games trilogy. Technically three books, but whatever. Dark, violent, compelling, and relentlessly intense.
2. D. A. Carson, The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story. Great overview of the Bible's central story line with a view to a biblically illiterate audience.
3. Richard Russo, Straight Man. Very funny. Not my favorite Russo but still enjoyable.
4. P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and the Tie That Binds. Brilliant and hilarious. The first Wodehouse I've read. I'll read more.
5. Eugene Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. A first-hand account of the American assault on two Japanese-held islands. While war may be necessary at times, there is no glory in it.
6. Alan Jacobs, Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant. A collection of essays from a great essayist.
7. Mike McKinley, Church Planting is for Wimps: How God Uses Messed-Up People to Plant Ordinary Churches That Do Extraordinary Things. Very encouraging book on church planting and church revitalization.
8. David Dickson, The Elder and His Work. A 19th century book on the elder's pastoral work. It's brevity is a plus.
9. Michael Korda, Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. Great biography of a fascinating man.
10. Alan Jacobs, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Jacob's second mention on this list. A book for people who love books.
Honorable mention: Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Two-thirds through at the moment. Otherwise probably would have made it on the list.
Reading Update
I've let too many full book reviews pass by, and it's too late to catch up. You'll have to make do with these short summaries.
Michael Korda, Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. T. E. Lawrence was the type of renaissance man that I find fascinating. He was brilliant at everything he put his hand to: historical research on medieval fortifications, archaeology, writing, diplomacy, and (I know I'm forgetting something . . . Oh, yeah) uniting the Arab tribes and leading them in military revolt against the Turks in World War I. Korda's well-written biography shows how so much of his life--his discovery that he was illegitimate, his distant relationship with his mother, his perpetual collection of father figures, his almost fanatical asceticism, and his desire to do something great in the world--prepared him to become a hero. And by "hero" Korda means in the classical sense rather than in the modern, sentimental sense. I especially enjoyed Korda's take on Lawrence's immensely complicated personality as well as three events in Lawrence's warfare experience that would have surely made many men lose their minds: personally executing one of his men (to forestall an inner-tribal vendetta), his rape and torture as a prisoner of war by his Turkish captives, and witnessing the immediate aftermath of a hideous massacre of an Arab village by fleeing Turkish troops. Korda has made produced a literary work worthy of its subject. If you enjoy biographies you'll enjoy this one.
G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who was Thursday: A Nightmare. A very strange book about an undercover cop infiltrating an anarchist group who discovers that all the members of the anarchist group are all undercover cops. I enjoyed it but I'm not sure if I got it.
Alan Jacobs, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Jacobs is one of my favorite authors, and once again he did not disappoint. His latest book is all about embracing reading for fun rather than reading for duty or personal betterment (contra the likes of How to Read a Book and other advocates of "must read" books or "great book" lists). Jacobs has convinced me to abandon my goal to read one "classic" book per quarter (not like I was making much progress anyway). Book snobs should stay away from this one.
For my next post I'll have my top ten reads of 2011.
Michael Korda, Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. T. E. Lawrence was the type of renaissance man that I find fascinating. He was brilliant at everything he put his hand to: historical research on medieval fortifications, archaeology, writing, diplomacy, and (I know I'm forgetting something . . . Oh, yeah) uniting the Arab tribes and leading them in military revolt against the Turks in World War I. Korda's well-written biography shows how so much of his life--his discovery that he was illegitimate, his distant relationship with his mother, his perpetual collection of father figures, his almost fanatical asceticism, and his desire to do something great in the world--prepared him to become a hero. And by "hero" Korda means in the classical sense rather than in the modern, sentimental sense. I especially enjoyed Korda's take on Lawrence's immensely complicated personality as well as three events in Lawrence's warfare experience that would have surely made many men lose their minds: personally executing one of his men (to forestall an inner-tribal vendetta), his rape and torture as a prisoner of war by his Turkish captives, and witnessing the immediate aftermath of a hideous massacre of an Arab village by fleeing Turkish troops. Korda has made produced a literary work worthy of its subject. If you enjoy biographies you'll enjoy this one.
G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who was Thursday: A Nightmare. A very strange book about an undercover cop infiltrating an anarchist group who discovers that all the members of the anarchist group are all undercover cops. I enjoyed it but I'm not sure if I got it.
Alan Jacobs, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Jacobs is one of my favorite authors, and once again he did not disappoint. His latest book is all about embracing reading for fun rather than reading for duty or personal betterment (contra the likes of How to Read a Book and other advocates of "must read" books or "great book" lists). Jacobs has convinced me to abandon my goal to read one "classic" book per quarter (not like I was making much progress anyway). Book snobs should stay away from this one.
For my next post I'll have my top ten reads of 2011.
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