What if your world was 11×11 square?

That’s the premise of Room, by Emma Donaghue. It is told from the perspective a 5-year old boy who was born into captivity. His mother was kidnapped from our modern society and locked up and raped for years. Jack was born into this environment, and has known nothing else.

The story was pretty fascinating. Morbid and dark, but also light-hearted and innocent, as only 5-year olds can be.

***Spoilers Below***

Jack refers to the chair as Chair, the rug as Rug, as if they were proper nouns. In his world, they are. Because there is only one Rug and only one Chair. He sleeps in Wardrobe, because Old Nick comes in the night, and Jack’s mom doesn’t want him to see Jack. He knows about him, of course, but it’s one of the few concessions she’s gotten from her captor.

Jack looks forward to the games they play all day, one of which is named Track, where they run in a semi-circle back and forth around the bed in order to get exercise. Another is named Scream, which only happens during the middle of the day on weekdays, where they stand on the table and scream as loud as they can at the tiny skylight. A third game is called numbers, where they call out numbers randomly and punch them into the keypad next to the door.

Jack thinks all these games are fun, but as a reader you see through the games and see a woman in captivity, holding things together for her son.

When Jack turns 5, his mom starts telling him truths that he never knew, such as the fact there are more Rugs and Chairs and people outside their small world. Jack, whose sense of reality is distorted to “us” and “people in TV” has a hard time absorbing this.

Now that Jack knows some truth, his mom comes up with a desparate plan to escape. They fake Jack’s death and smuggle him out inside of Rug, while she’s hysterically telling her captor to bury him somewhere outside of town. Miraculously, Jack performs wonderfully in his role as hero, managing to get the police to rescue his mother. The scene of the great escape is breathtaking and suspenseful and not very realistic but still superb.

Once free, Jack’s mother starts to crack up, and Jack has anxiety issues as his world is now bigger than he ever thought. His adjustment, and her readjustment, to the real world is painful to watch. But it is real.

One of my favorite characters is the step-grandfather, whom Jack’s mother has never even met until she escapes, but who treats Jack gently. He’s just super-good with kids, and does a great job with the challenging case of Jack, the boy who was born in a box.

This was a super-fast read. Definitely darker than your average book, but hard to put down. Seeing this experience through Jack’s eyes is a very unique writing perspective.

Tags: books

Ayn Rand is a polarizing figure. I know people who love her and those who think her ideas are rubbish. I wasn’t sure what to think – all i knew was what other people told me, and not all of them were clear on their reasons. I have people whom i respect in both camps. So, i needed to read some of her work to figure out exactly what her ideas were, and what i thought about them.

Atlas Shrugged was a tedious tome. The main character is a woman named Dagny Taggart, whose family has been in the railroad business for generations. She’s always known she would run the railroad when she grew up, and she does. She loves the railroad with a passion, and is very good at her job. Through her, we meet two other types of characters: 1) business associates who, like her, work hard and are successful, and 2) the rest of the world, many of whom are politicians, who think that greed is bad and need is good.

Is this story supposed to be satire? It takes itself too seriously, so i doubt it. Basically, the economy in the U.S. has reached a critical point where there are too many consumers and not enough producers. Dagny and her cohorts are providing goods and services to a world that doesn’t want to work, or pay, for them. The “rest of the world” thinks that to be needy is to be virtuous. Those that can produce, should produce, for the sake of those who can’t, and even for the sake of those who won’t. There is almost a religious aspect to those who claim to be completely free of greed, which basically means in this story that they are incapable of producing anything of value.

In this world, all the top talent, all the leaders of industry, are mysteriously disappearing, and it falls to a shrinking few to keep the economy from collapsing. When people ask why things are the way they are, the response is often “Who is John Galt?” which seems to be some sort of profane, rhetorical slang that basically means “Who knows?” The government blunders along, adding ridiculous regulations that cripple businesses at every turn.

Throughout the story, we learn that all the top talent is being lured away to a secret stronghold of smart people, who are building their own community, leaving “the rest of the world” to fend for themselves. They think that, by removing themselves from society, society will collapse much faster, which is what they WANT. They think that society is collapsing anyway, so they will hurry it along. And thus will they make the world realize that the world philosophy is wrong, and that greed is actually a good thing. In fact, i think Rand is making the case that greed is The good thing.

So, what did i learn about Ayn Rand’s ideas and do i agree with them? Here are some of the themes and my thoughts.

Personal responsibility is good – One of the largest themes, that we owe what we are to the labors of our own efforts. We should strive to work, and to work well. I agree.

Entitlement is bad – The book is full of characters who don’t do anything but spew hogwash about how pure they are. By refusing to try to make a profit by being productive, they think they are virtuous because they have no love of money, and thus deserve to be rewarded. For not doing anything. I agree this attitude is bad. I might even say evil.

No compassion for others – This is probably where i most strongly disagree. The protagonists have absolutely no good will towards men. They don’t do anything that isn’t for a profit, or that isn’t what they perceive as their duty. This is wrong. I might even say evil.

Greed is good – Greed could be just as easily be replaced with self-interest in this context. I moderately agree. Greed may be one of the seven deadly sins, but it is also how the economy makes progress. And this is probably where the Republicans’ fiscal policy comes from – trickle down economics assumes that businesses are acting in their self-interest to create a profit, and thus create jobs, and everyone profits. I think it is important to incentivize businesses, large and small. But love and compassion have to come into play at some point. Greed is not the ultimate virtue.

Regulation is bad – The government in this story seems hell-bent on passing regulations that make it impossible for businesses to survive. I disagree with the notion that all regulation is bad. Does anyone really think that the FDA should not exist to help insure the quality of food production?

Sex is not dirty – Some of the characters have to overcome their revulsion to the desires of their bodies. Our own society does have a preoccupation with sex, and our religions particularly preach that sex is generally a bad/dirty thing, that desire is base. I side with Rand here – it’s healthy to accept and understand your body and its desires as part of the self.

So, i found i agreed with many ideas in this book, at least to a point. I won’t go nearly as far as Rand does on some issues, and i have a feeling she and i would fall on opposite sides of the health care debate. I happen to think that we should help out those who need it the most. I did not LIKE the book, though. It was dry reading, very preachy. Also, there was only one smart woman in the whole book, and all the men of consequence fell in love with her. Really, all of them, there was even some weird tension with her brother.

One thing i did learn – the world Rand depicts has to be what all the uber-conservatives are afraid of. When they say “ObamaCare”, this is what they are envisioning: a mob of people who won’t work who expect to live off the rest of us. She does paint a scary picture, but we’re not there yet. Not even close.

Tags: books

It was several months ago when Amy Chua’s book was released, making headlines everywhere with her controversial parenting style. I read an excerpt from the NY Times and knew i wanted to read it.

It is controversial because her parenting style is simply not “the way we do things” here in America. And yet, it makes so much sense.

Chua’s parents raised her in a stereotypical Chinese fashion, demanding excellence, and she was determined to raise her two daughters in the same way. They were never allowed to attend sleepovers, get anything less than an A, or choose their own extracurriculars. She started her older daughter, Sophia, on the piano when she was 3 years old. Her younger daughter, Lulu, started with piano at a young age also, but soon moved to violin. She pushed both daughters relentlessly, forcing practice every day, sometimes over tantrums. They traveled frequently as a family, and even vacations brought no breaks for the young girls. Chua would search out pianos in hotel ballrooms and reserve times at odd ours, like 7-9 am, for her girls to practice.

It sounds extreme, but Chua made several points that resonated with me. One is that in order to truly enjoy something, you have to be good at it, and in order to get good, you have to practice, and children by default will not push themselves very hard.

A second point she makes is that “Westerners” tend to be very concerned about their children’s psyches and are worried about psychological damage much more so than a typical Chinese parent. Chua says that her Chinese parenting style assumes the kids can do it, assumes they can handle it, and doesn’t treat them as fragile. This goes wildly beyond what we would think of as acceptable, such as saying to a daugher, “Hey fatty, lose some weight.” That particular comment still makes me cringe, but the idea behind it intrigues me.

Chua’s determination and her daughters’ talents certainly yeilded results – her daughters are both very accomplished musicians, having played all over the world. Sophia performed at Carnegie Hall at age 14. Would she have made it to that stage if it weren’t for her “tiger mother”?

But Chua also admits how very hard it was on her to be such a parent, especially in our American culture. She even has to admit defeat when Lulu rebels. By the end of the book, she had agreed to let Lulu stop taking violin lessons.

One thing i thought was interesting, in China, Chua’s book has a totally different title – How to Raise a Child in America. Here, it stirred up the Mommy Wars and got people talking about education in this country and how we are rewarding mediocrity. In China, it’s marketed as a how-to manual. I guess it’s all in where you’re standing, and what your goals for your children are.

Definitely an interesting and worthwhile read, and it isn’t very long. Each chapter is a mini-story that could probably be read out of order.

Tags: books

Did you read the Twilight series and fall a little bit in love with it, but you wanted more adult themes and less teenage angst and depression? A Discovery of WItches might be the book for you.

There are no hot werewolves, unfortunately, but Deborah Harkness tries to make up for it by throwing in some witches and daemons instead. In this story, there are four species of people: humans, witches, daemons and vampires; the latter three are all referred to as “creatures”.

Diana Bishop comes from a long line of witches (her ancestor was one of the witches burned at Salem), but has forsworn using her magic. She is an historian doing research on ancient alchemical manuscripts, in an attempt to discover how alchemy and science eventually merged. She finds an ancient book called Ashmole 782 at the Bodleian Library, takes a few notes, and sends it back to the stacks. This one innocent move garners the attention of witches, vampires and daemons, who have all been searching for that book.

Diana’s story gets tangled up with that of Matthew Clairmont, a vampire, who is also very interested in Ashmole 782, even though witches and vampires generally don’t mix. Diana is threatened by vampires and witches, both, and Matthew (who is over 1500 years old) comes to her aid. The story that follows is full of intrigue and romance, and traces back through centuries as they try to discover the secrets of Ashmole 782. Everything is connected, including the death of Diana’s parents when she was a child and Matthew’s dark past. Meanwhile, this untrained witch is finding that her suppressed powers are now demanding to be let out, and she doesn’t know how to control them.

It’s an exquisite story. I read this huge book in about 6 days, only to learn that it is yet another trilogy that is unfinished. Book 2 will be released next year.

Great characters. Matthew, like Edward Cullen, is quite annoying in his overprotectiveness, but i guess that is normal these days when vampires fall in love with non-vamps. The quirky aunts are lovable. Matthew’s mother and the relationship she and Diana develop is priceless.

Loved it.

Tags: books

Somewhere along the line in my life, i’ve heard about the Iditarod as a tough dog-sled race in Alaska. I’ve never known much about it. Then, last fall, during one of our many Netflix-watching crazes, we came across a miniseries called Iditarod: The Toughest Race on Earth.  It was six episodes about the 2007 Iditarod race. It was fascinating to me, featuring a handful of competitors and their dogs in their race from Anchorage to Nome.

I’m not sure i can say it looked fun, but it looked like a challenge. Man (and dog) against nature. For months, i talked about how we might have to move to Alaska or Canada so i could learn to run dogs.

A little history: the use of the Iditarod trail reached its peack between 1890 and 1920, when coal miners needed supplies, and later during the gold rush. When the outposts became snowbound, mushers supplied the food, firewood and other supplies needed to survive.

When the library showcased Winterdance in its book-a-day blog that i keep an eye on, i knew i wanted to read this book. The full title is Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod. The author ran the race twice in the 1980s. His tale tells the story of his first race: how he trained for it, how he survived it.

The book is laugh-out-loud hilarious at times. For instance, training at night means you will encounter many skunks, which will spray you, your dogs, your gear, everything. Try getting in bed with your wife after such a run – Gary tried it, and she said no way, you need to go sleep with the dogs. And he did.

The book also detailed just how difficult it is. The training alone was very difficult for Paulsen.  For one, the dogs are not “pets”, they have a little wolf in them. And they are bred to run, run run. He describes them as “huge, gray-sided, yellow-eyed meat eaters that didn’t want anything but to pull and eat.” Aside from the lead dog, none of the dogs will listen to verbal commands, such as “Stop”, “Whoa”, “Sit” or “Stay”. So when the mushers want to stop, they have to try and hook something such as a tree in order to slow the sled and make the dogs unable to move forward. If you are unlucky enough to lose your team, you have to hope they run into something and the sled gets lodged somewhere or you could be walking for many miles to find them.

By far some of the most compelling passages are those about the beauty of Alaska, communing with nature, and witnessing some very bizarre but beautiful sites. One that will stick with me is that of the ice-skating buffalo. He climbs a ridge and watches as four buffalo play a game on the edge of a frozen lake. The get a running start off of the land and when they reach the ice they slide, tails pointed skyward, until they stop. It seems to be a game of who can slide the farthest. He watches them do this over and over.

I loved the book, but it taught me that no, i will probably never undertake to run the Iditarod. I’m still fascinated with it, though, and whenever i do get to Alaska to visit my brother, I’ll have to visit a museum about it or something.

Tags: books

The full title is SUGAR SHOCK! How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life– and How You Can Get Back on Track. How’s that for a mouthful?

First of all, the really annoying part: anywhere in the book where the author uses the phrase “sugar shock,” she instead says SUGAR SHOCK!  Like, in capital letters in the middle of sentence, complete with exclamation point.  Was this really necessary?  It was completely distracting while reading.

Regarding the content, i have to say i have a mixed reaction.

The part that makes sense is the book basically tries to convince you to cut sugar completely out of your diet.  Mostly this is common sense.  We all know that having eating cookies instead of cantaloupe is not the way to shed the pounds.  The next most prominent argument in the book is that simple carbs, such as white bread, should also be cut out because they essentially turn into glucose in your bloodstream, the same way sugar does.  This also makes sense and it’s not the first time that i’ve heard that white bread and simple carbs can be bad for you.  There is some science in the book to back this up, which i also like.

The part that i didn’t like so much is that while there is some science, there is a lot more anecdotal evidence and individual stories from people who used to be in SUGAR SHOCK! who are much better now that they have cut sugar out.  Anecdotes don’t really cut it with me.  Also, i didn’t like the part where she said “your doctor might dismiss your anxiety about a possible addiction to sugar”.  She actually implied that the doctors don’t know how to properly administer the tests in order to determine if you have hypoglycemia, which is low blood sugar.  I am extremely skeptical of anyone selling something that they tell me my doctor can’t help me with or won’t know about.

One other complaint – part of the title says How You Can Get Back on Track.  The book actually doesn’t provide much of a How component.  Oh wait – cut out all sugar, and especially high-fructose corn syrup.  Yeah, easier said than done.  There is no advice on how to do this or what methods might work.  I think all of us know that we should eat less sugar and junk, but the how is really the hard part.

So yes, there is a lot of common sense in the book, in that there is no doubt our society consumes way too much sugar.  However, the claims that the medical establishment is not interested in getting the diagnosis correct seem pretty bogus to me.

Tags: books