My thoughts on the Hugo novella category

This is my first year as a supporting member for the World's Science Fiction Convention, occurring at ChiCon 7. That means I get to vote on the Hugo Awards! I have until July 31 to submit my votes online, and only have a few categories left.

Today I focused on the novella category.  In my opinion, I think Catherynne Valente should take home the award for Silently and Very Fast.  After this brief review, I'll rank the remaining nominated novellas.

#1 -  Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Inside, Neva is infinite. She peoples her Interior."

This is a line from the last few pages of Silently and Very Fast, and to me describes Catherynne Valente's inner creative world, the world that she is somehow able to communicate to the rest of us through lush language and quirky-beautiful settings and characters. I deliberately read this Hugo-nominated novella last because I always expect to enjoy the worlds she creates, and I guess I'm just a delayed gratification girl.

I loved the incorporation of technology and programming language and to still have that Valente identity. I just can't help responding out loud when I read her words - gasps of delight, laughter, sighs... it is actually a tiny bit embarrassing.

If you are more of an audiophile, Kate Baker recorded this in three podcast segments for Clarkesworld Magazine. I enjoy Valente in audio more than other authors, and Kate's voice does a great justice to the language in the story. Even reading the print, I find myself slowing down to get all the imagery set in my head.


#2 - Countdown by Mira Grant - a prequel to the Newsflesh trilogy, and told in an interesting way.

#3 - The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu - interesting historically but I'm not sure it completely succeeded in its storytelling.

#4 - Kiss Me Twice by Mary Robinette Kowal - Police with AI partners.

#5 - The Man Who Bridged the Mist by Kij Johnson - I had a hard time finishing this one, and she's usually a favorite.

The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck

 

The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Around the World: 36 of 52 (Paraguay)

I don't know a lot about Paraguayan history, and while The News from Paraguay is historical fiction, there is a lot to learn in this brief novel. I felt like the setting was captured well, and Lily Tuck incorporated actual journal articles from two historical figures. The time period covered is the 19th century, specifically the rise and fall of Francisco Solano López. Unfortunately his rise and fall is also Paraguay's rise and fall, since by the time he was done with his leadership of the country, only about 25% of the country survived, and most of the males were gone.

Paraguay has been in the news recently as the former president was removed from office. I learned in the reading I've been doing that the majority of Paraguay's presidents have been forcibly removed from office. This book may give some insight into the relationships Paraguay has with its bordering nations, how it is viewed by Europe and North America, as well as how its own population (native and immigrant) reacts to the constant change. So on a historical level, the book is didactic and interesting, despite the fact that the author has never been to the country.  It was also interesting to figure out where this fit into world history, as there were some mentions of the Civil War in the USA, issues of slavery, and so on.

From a writing standpoint, I can't say I enjoyed it as much. While the story is linear, it jumps around between situations and people, and although the story focuses on Ella, the Irish mistress of Franco and mother to many of his children, most of the stories are brief and not necessarily connected. I found the portrayal of some of the characters pretty unrealistic, and the mentions of sex awkward. I don't mind sex in a novel, but it usually serves to shed light on a relationship, and it was as if Lily Tuck wanted to keep the reader's interest by mentioning something about someone's 'member,' and yes, using that very term. I'd rather be interested by the story. I think it suffers from the focus on the outsider view, and would have been richer coming from the inside rather than the outside.

Up next: Some of the members of the Around the World group are doing a group read of The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende.  I've already two books about Chile this year, but this will be the first novel set there.  It will just be nice to have a group read!

One more thing: If you have been reading these posts and wishing you had done a challenge like this, some of us will be doing something similar just with the USA in 2013.  Come join us!

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Around the World: 34 of 52 books (North Korea)

This book was a slow burn, and dense to read, but in the end, completely worth it. The first half is the story of Jun Do, from orphan in North Korea to kidnapper to spy; the second half interweaves his continued bizarre story with an interrogator and the loudspeakers that spin every event to the Dear Leader's favor (Kim Jong Il).  Time ceases to be linear at that point, and it takes a while to unravel the events from the characters.

It was interesting to have an element of the characters living in self-delusion, where the reader knows better, and even they know better, but for survival they go through crazy lies on a daily basis. This is particularly true of Jun Do, as he minimizes the description of what is actually going on, but the reader has to read between the lines. It smacks of other dystopian novels, reminding me of Orwell, and Lem, and Zamyatin. Except this is an attempt at a portrayal of a society that could be like this. I'm not going to say this book taught me about North Korea as other reviewers have done. This is a work of fiction. But so many of the stories we hear are bizarre, and this book attempts to explain some of them (in a sometimes humorous way). In fact, humor is an important element throughout The Orphan Master's Son, but more in the sense that you have to laugh or you'll cry. Oppression is ridiculous insanity.

One of the best moments is when Jun Do gets sent to Texas for a state visit, very funny because of the misunderstandings and assumptions on both sides.

"Where we are from, stories are factual. If a farmer is declared a music virtuoso by the state, everyone had better start calling him maestro. And secretly, he'd be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change."

"...The sensation was allowed to rise up, up into his brain, and it was okay to perceive again, to recognize forgotten parts of his body as they hailed him. His lungs were more than air bellows. His heart, he believed now, could do more than move blood."

"The Americans have the saying 'Time heals all wounds.' But this is not true. Experiments have shown that healing is hastened only by self-criticism sessions, the inspirational tracts of Kim Jon Il, and replacement persons. So when the Dear Leader gives you a new husband, give yourself to him!" (loudspeaker)

Planning for Orange July

 

Orange January/July is a biannual event where bloggers from the Orange Prize Project encourage readers to choose at least one title from the Orange Prize longlist, shortlist, or winners list.  

For Orange January, I managed to make it through four Orange Prize books, two that I also counted for my Around the World Challenge.

• Gut Symmetries by Jeannette Winterson (longlist, 1997)
• Frangipani by Celestine Vaite (longlist, 2006)
• The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht (winner, 2011)
• Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (longlist, 2005)

When I was in the Caribbean in May, I also managed to read another Orange book - The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, which is one of the best books I've read all year.

For Orange July, I have several titles from the various Orange lists that are currently on my shelf.  I know I'll read at least one, but I'm not sure where to start.  Do you see anything pictured below that you would recommend first?  I'm pretty set on saving American Wife for 2013 (when I'll be doing an Around the USA reading challenge), but other than that I'm open. 

• Half of a Yellow Sun (winner, 2007)
• Home (winner, 2009)
• A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (shortlist, 2005)
• Brick Lane (longlist, 2004)
• American Wife (longlist, 2009)

Around the World Readathon Wrapup

Well, that was fun.  No really, it was!  I set up the readathon for the Around the World group on a whim and a bunch of people participated.  Some of us tweeted our participation with a pre-agreed hashtag, and some just posted to the discussion thread, but we had a lot of people reading and talking about reading. That's the whole point! I just love reading in community. We didn't even have to be reading the same books for it to be interesting. I hope we can do one more event like this before 2012 is over.

I was able to make my way through five books - two in Australia, one in Japan, one in Mexico, and one in the country now known as the Czech Republic.  I started at midnight with The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman, an eBook of an ARC I received from NetGalley.  (My review)  I had actually made it halfway through this book prior to starting the challenge, but I stayed up from midnight to somewhere after 3 in the morning reading it (and drinking coffee, and checking my e-mail, and tweeting, anything to keep me awake).

A little before 8 am, I was awake again, and decided to go ahead and get up (I can sleep when I'm dead, or when the readathon is over!) and dive into another Australian book that I've been excited about for a while - Cocaine Blues. It was so much fun and got me excited about the readathon for the day. Not only that, I got to read about Melbourne, a city I've been really wanting to visit. (My review)

I may not have mentioned this before, but I am in a lot of online book groups.  Most of them came out of GoodReads.  It started with my involvement with the Sword & Laser group, which I joined to get the chance to read more science fiction and fantasy.  Now I am in around ten groups, all of which pick books to read every month.  I don't always make it to reading all of them, but when I do, greatly enjoy the discussions.  One of those groups is The World's Literature, which I found through some of the participants in the Around the World in 52 Books group. We have been working our way through several prominent modern Japanese novelists this summer, and I was feeling behind, so the next book I chose was A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is a perfect book for a group discussion, because it is incredibly thought provoking!  (My review)

I didn't have a plan beyond that, so I snagged two books that I thought I could get through and decided to taste-test them. I read a few chapters of both Like Water for Chocolate and The Unbearable Lightness of Being   I decided the Esquivel would be the quickest to get through, and ended up still having the time for the Kundera.   Surprisingly, I didn't enjoy Like Water for Chocolate as much as I expected, having seen the movie years ago. (My review) The Unbearable Lightness of Being, on the other hand, is one of the few books to receive a five star rating from me in this entire challenge. (My review) I was so tired by 11:30 pm when I finished that I had to talk myself into walking upstairs to get into bed.  What a day of reading, and talking about reading! Let's do it again soon!

Readathon!

 

I'm hosting my very first readathon from midnight tonight through midnight tomorrow night, or however long people want to read for.  It is for the Around the World in 52 Books group in GoodReads.  We have almost made it halfway through the year, and many of us have been bemoaning falling behind.  Oh a whim, I created a readathon so that people could find solidarity in a catchup day.  There will be snacks.  There will be libations.  There will be pajamas.  And we will all read something from our list from the comfort of our own homes, and chatter about it.

Some of us will be chattering in Twitter using #52athon to identify us as a group.  I like Twitter for such things because it is easier to post a quick update than commenting on a forum or writing a blog post.  As always, you can follow me in Twitter, @ReadingEnvy.  

Hey, don't feel like you have to belong to our group to hang out and read with us.  Surely you can find a book set somewhere in the world.

Personally, I'm not sure how much of the day I'll spend reading, but I know what book I'll start with.  I'm on a little bit of an Australian kick, having already made it halfway through an ARC of The Light Between Oceans.  I also downloaded the Kindle Daily Deal the other day, Cocaine Blues, which features a lady detective in Melbourne.  Who doesn't love Australians?

I don't have a plan beyond that, so I expect to just follow my whims.  I may not use tomorrow to finish my North Korean selection, as I feel like a readathon is all about accomplishment and it is a slower read. I guess we'll see!  This is one of my favorite things about reading in community.

Unbowed by Wangari Maathai

 

Unbowed by Wangari Maathai
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Around the World: 28 of 52 (Kenya)

Wangari Maathai has an interesting story of growing from a Kikuyu child to a Nobel Peace Prize winner. I grew up surrounded by stories of the Swahili and Turkana peoples of Kenya because of friends we had living there, but I didn't know much about the Kikuyu or the forests. I learned a lot about the socio-political history of Kenya, how to work toward change (be "patient and committed," she would say), and how much one person can accomplish. I also feel like I saw education from a different perspective.


The rest, I'd rather Wangari Maathai said in her own words, so here are the places I marked:

"These experiences of childhood are what mold us and make us who we are. How you translate the life you see, feel, smell, and touch as you grow up - the water you drink, the air you breathe, and the food you eat - are what you become. When what you remember disappears, you miss it and search for it, and so it was with me. When I was a child, my surroundings were alive, dynamic, and inspiring. Even though I was entering a world where there were books to read and facts to learn - the cultivation of the mind - I was still able to enjoy a world where there were no books to read, where children were told living stories about the world around them, and where you cultivated the soil and the imagination in equal measure."

"A general orientation toward trusting people and a positive attitude toward life and fellow human beings is healthy - not only for one's peace of mind but also to bring about change."

"Education, if it means anything, should not take people away from the land, but instill in them even more respect for it, because educated people are in a position to understand what is being lost."

"When we go through profound experiences, they change us. We risk our relationship with friends and family. They may not like the direction we have taken or may feel threatened or judged by our decisions. They may wonder what happened to the person they thought they once knew. There may not be enough space in a relationship for aspirations and beliefs or mutual interests and aims to unfold. For a couple, this is particularly so because most people marry young and are bound to grow and change in their perceptions and appreciation of life."

"Humanity needs to rethink peace and security and work toward cultures of peace by governing itself more democratically, respecting the rule of law and human rights, deliberately and consciously promoting justice and equity, and managing resources more responsibly and accountably - not only for the present but also for the future generations.