Braaaiiiiins!

Yes, I'm going to be writing about zombies. I've recently finished the book "World War Z: the oral history of the zombie war" by Max Brooks and it just blew me away. I'm not actually a big zombie fan (I'm more of a vampire girl), so I only read this because it was the book club choice for last month. I reluctantly picked it up, and then I couldn't put it down.

The books is the story of the survivors of the zombie apocalypse. It is really well-written and well-researched. I know, it may sound a little silly, research for a zombie book, but because of the nature of the book, research was key. The premise of the story is that the narrator is hired to write a report about the world's reaction to the zombie invasion. In order for the book to work as well as it did, Brooks really had to have a good understanding of how different cultures, religions and governments work. He needed to be able to capture how a Chinese peasant would react differently to an Israeli general or a South African politician. Without that understanding, the book would not have the power that it did.

I thought that Brooks really captured how different people would react, which made the book believable (an odd choice for a book about zombies, but there you are). I was immediately drawn into the story, and what I loved was that it seemed to be less about zombies than about how humans react in the face of disaster. This book could have been written about any world wide disaster. I really enjoyed how Brooks looked at the reactions of both the higher ups and the ordinary people. He allows the reader to really see how this disaster would affect EVERYONE. To me, that's important. If I'm going to see myself in a book (which is important to me), the characters need to be people I can relate to. This even goes for books as far out there as novels about zombies.

I really recommend this book, even for those who roll their eyes at the thought of a zombie book.

The Land that Anne Built

This past August, I had the opportunity to make my first pilgrimage to the Land that Anne Built, AKA Prince Edward Island. I had wanted to visit PEI for years, but I had never managed the trip. In planning this vacation, my DH and I had many discussions about where to go. He was pushing for a quick trip to Nova Scotia, but I held out for PEI. I think he was afraid that I would spend three days dragging him around to every single nook and cranny of PEI that had something to do with L.M. Montgomery or Anne Shirley. It may have been tempting, but I restrained myself and we only spent a day on Anne related sight-seeing. I have to save something for my next visit. ;)

Was the visit worth it? ABSOLUTELY! Not only did I fall in love with PEI, but I loved seeing everything Anne related. Has the province gone overboard? Yes. You can't go into a shop without finding Anne memorabilia. The Anne books are sold everywhere and you can't turn around without hitting an Anne doll. Somehow, though, it works. The whole island is based on tourism and Anne is the tourist lynch pin. The do kitch right in PEI. I was actually very impressed with myself. I did not go crazy with buying souvenirs. I bought a set of the Anne books and not much else. I should have bought the Anne hat (braids included!) but I didn't. Oh, yes, raspberry cordial. I bought four bottles of cordial. Now, to make it perfectly clear, this cordial is NOT the same as the cordial which made Diana Berry sick. This is non-alcoholic cordial; it is basically raspberry pop.

On this trip we went to 1. The Anne of Green Gables Museum 2. L.M. Montgomery's birthplace 3. Green Gables and 4. The Village of Avonlea. As we toured around, I have to admit, it became difficult to tell fact from fiction in the area around Cavendish. The Anne of Green Gables Museaum is the home of L.M. Montgomery's Campbell relatives. It is still owned by the Campbells, but they have opened it up to the public. That is all straight fact. Montgomery spent her summers here as a child and she was married here. When you tour the museum there are lots of photos of Montgomery and you can see her bedroom upstairs. It is when you leave the museum that the fact/fiction line begins to blur.

When my DH and I finished in the museum we went outside and went on "Matthew's Carriage Ride" to see The Lake of Shining Waters. Now, a lake was there, but there isn't really a Lake of Shining Waters. That lake was a literary creation of L.M. Montgomery. Matthew was also a literary creation. There never was a real Matthew Cuthbert. He never took Anne on a carriage ride from the train station to Green Gables. It's hard to remember that, though, when you are in a carriage being pulled by a horse. I was beginning to feel that the fictional characters were real.

This disconnect from reality becomes even more pronounced when we actually reached Green Gables. There is a real house, but the true occupants were not the fictional Cuthberts. The house had belonged to a cousin of L.M. Montgomery's, but you won't find any evidence of them at Green Gables. Green Gables as an attraction (and National Historic Site!?) is all about Anne Shirley. This makes it hard to remember that we are talking about fictional characters. As you tour the house, one of the first rooms you see is Matthew's bedroom. Well, it couldn't REALLY be Matthew's bedroom because he never existed! That doesn't matter at Green Gables, though. The fiction continues when you go upstairs and look at Anne's room. The house is set up like a museum with plexi-glass partitions keeping you from entering the rooms. This adds to the realism of the place.

Realism is completely thrown out the window when you get to the Village of Avonlea. Since Avonlea is not a real place, some enterprising person has created it. For a fee, you can enter through the gates and be transported to Turn of the Century, small-town Canada. There are dirt roads and wooden sidewalks and various buildings to explore. Throughout the day, costumed actors replay scenes from the books. When we were there, Anne was busy hitting Gilbert over the head with a slate. We decided not to stay at the school to participate in Miss Stacey's math class, but that was another option. The village is small, and there are definite anachronisms (Cow's Ice Cream, anyone?) but none of that matters. My DH and I sat in the church for awhile to listen to some gospel music and then explored the barn area. We did not, however, get a chance to milk a cow. It was another way to experience Anne.

The trip offered a great opportunity to learn more about the life of one of my favourite authors as experience a slice of fictional life. I think that PEI, and the town of Cavendish in particular, have it right when it comes to capitalizing on a popular literary figure. I can't wait to go back.

Have any of you taken a literary pilgrimage? If so, where did you go? If not, where would you want to go?

Hungry for Hunger Games

While taking my Librarianship course this summer, I was introduced to the Suzanne Collins trilogy of The Hunger Games. I have now read the first book, Hunger Games and the second, Catching Fire. I cannot say enough about how much I love these books. The third book in the series, Mockingjay, comes out tomorrow, and I can't wait to read it. Although these books are written for a YA audience, every adult I know who has read them, loves them. I recommend them for anyone 13+.

Hunger Games is a dystopian novel about life in what used to be North America. The heroine of the story is 16 year old Katniss Everdeen; she and her family live in District 12, a coal mining district. The districts are under the strict control of The Capital, and every year, in order to demonstrate the subservience of the districts to The Capital, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts are selected to compete in the Hunger Games. These games are horrific, and the competitors are fighting to the death to be the victor. The twenty-four contestants fight each other until only one is left.

Katniss and her fellow District 12 contestant Peeta, are underdogs, and we read the story to see how and if Katniss manages to survive. This book works because the characters are so well drawn. I really cared about Katniss and Peeta. When Peeta declares his love for Katniss, it adds a new dimension to the story; if only one can survive, what happens to to the love story? This story is much, much more believable than that of say, Edward and Bella. These are characters that you really can relate to. Although the book is set sometime in the future, the reality of the poverty that Katniss lives with, her struggles to keep her family together, her struggle to survive in the horrific world of the Hunger Games, it is all very real.

Are there elements of fantasy? Of course there are; it is fiction, after all, but because of the strength of the characters, it blends really well. I think people looking for a gripping story with well-developed characters will love this story.

I will update you when I have finished the third book.

In Defense of Sookie

Well, I find myself in the unfortunate position of having to backtrack slightly. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about books as mind candy; my example was a series of books by Charlaine Harris - the True Blood series. I believe I argued in favour of reading books of substance, and I didn't feel that these books had that substance. Since then, I've been involved in a Facebook conversation with someone who has such a low opinion of the books that she won't even read them. I found myself defending them. Whoops. What happened? How could I go from suggesting that the True Blood series is mind candy to defending them publicly on Facebook?

I guess, when it comes down to it, a little candy isn't too bad. I would never suggest that the True Blood series is great literature, but I don't think there is anything really bad with it either. It's fluff, but so what? Is it expecting too much of myself to only read 'good' literature? Should I have these really high standards for myself? Does that lead to disappointing myself? Should I just accept the fact that I have low standards for reading, or try to 'improve' myself.

I'll have to come back to this, I think I have a lot to think about.