Folklore, American Vampire, and the Once Upon a Time Challenge

I read American Vampire (Volume One) back at the end of March (review) and it has stayed on my mind.  A lot.

In the various musing on it that I have done, I realized that it is perfect for the "Folklore" category of Once Upon a Time Challenge and I'm shocked that I didn't see it at first.  That's the thing about a book like this, though.  It is so layered it takes months to peel away at it; and the more I peel, the more I find.

Folklore takes the customs of a group of people and tells it in story form, usually (to my layman's mind) using a lot of exaggeration and showing that particular people to be something special.  Think of the Jack tales, if you will.

Snyder and King (especially in King's half of the novel) have taken the vampire legend and made it something completely American, indigenous only to this breed of people.  In short, they've created a new folklore.

If you like vampire stories, or the Wild West, or revengeful women, or. .. heck, just as long as you like to read but don't mind a little gore (okay, even if you DON'T like to read; this might be a good starting point), give this one a try.  Let it marinate for a while afterwards and see where it takes you.

Darn fine book.

In the Garden of Beasts

In the Garden of Beasts
Erik Larson 
Hardcover: 464 pages 
Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (May 10, 2011)
reviewing ARC, courtesy of Amazon Vine
5/5 stars

In the Garden of Beasts is an amazing book.  It is a nonfiction account that reads with the ease and entertainment of a good novel.  When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it.  When I was reading it, I was engrossed.

Larson uses letters, journals and papers to tell the story of William Dodd, U.S. Ambassador to Germany in the thirties, of his daughter (Martha), and of Hitler's rise viewed through their eyes.  Martha, socialite and party to many romantic escapades, found herself in a position to garner information that the Ambassador couldn't know and become the center of several intrigues herself.  As for Ambassador Dodd, as he became more disillusioned with (and ultimately more fully aware of) Hitler's Germany, he became more of an outcast with the "in crowd" of the State Department, creating an entirely different, but important, conspiracy of sorts.

Despite knowing the ultimate outcome of the Dodds' adventure, In the Garden of Beasts is still a page turner and thoroughly fascinating.  It was with reluctance that I turned the last page, and said good bye to these people that had consumed my mind so completely.

Larson's apparently has the ability to write a biographical account in such a way that makes it more enjoyable than most fiction.  (I've not read The Devil in the White City*, but that has been moved to the top of my to-read list.)  I can not recommend this enough, regardless of your interest in the subject.  My initial interest was not high, but I came away with new understanding and knowledge of the time period, US and German politics, and ultimately, human nature. In the Garden of Beasts is a must read.

*I did read The Devil in the White City and it was a five star read!

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Anita Loos
4/5 stars

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has long been one of my favorite movies, so I was tickled to discover that it was a magazine serial first. Until I stumbled across the book, I had just assumed that Loos wrote it for the screen.

Lorelei is a beautiful blonde with a conflicting amount of predatory logic, downright dumbness and a deep conviction of her own intelligence. The book is the journal she kept during the few months she was traveling abroad (her fiancé, Mr. Eisman is "educating" her) with her friend Dorothy, who "really does not care about her mind and I always scold her because she does nothing but waste her time by going around with gentlemen who do not have anything".

Mr. Eisman (never called Gus, because "when a gentleman who is as important as Mr. Eisman, spends quite a lot of money educating a girl, it really does not show reverence to call a gentleman by his first name") makes the mistake of not going with Lorelei, and so with just Dorothy to chaperone, she makes conquests of kind rich men all across Europe.

Loos has written an amusing story, and though at times I got tired of the purposeful misspellings and grammatical errors, I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The few not-as-interesting parts were completely forgotten as soon as I read another one of Loos' little gems such as "Well, it's been three days since my debut party started but I finally got tired and left the party last night and went to bed because I always seem to lose all of my interest in a party after a few days" or "So, she found a box of liqueur candies that are full of liqueurs and she was really very delighted. So I finally got dressed and she threw the empty box away and I helped her down stairs to the Dining room."

If you've seen the movie, you should definitely read this as it gives a little more depth to Lorelei. If you've not, the book will still be a fun trip back to the 20's where bootleggers, gold diggers and millionaires party side by side.

Sunday Salon: Book List Infographic

While I rarely agree with book lists (the best of, everyone should read, most popular, blah blah blah) I am a list junkie and find them simply fascinating.  Information is Beautiful did a really nice job with this cloud, using fifteen different lists to generate it.  The best part of it, to my mind, is that you can access the lists used via Google docs.

Oryx and Crake

Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood
Paperback: 376 pages
Publisher: Anchor; first edition (March 30, 2004)
for mature readers
4/5 stars

When Oryx and Crake first opens, the reader meets the narrator (Snowman) and is immediately aware that there has been a disaster of gigantic proportions.  The information about Snowman's past and this event trickle slowly, through his reflections and memories, at first more tantalizing and mysterious than informational and explanatory.  By the time Oryx and Crake is finished, everything has become crystal clear for the reader, through a delightful process of hints, deductions and knowledge told outright, and then Atwood laughs at the self-satisfied reader with yet another conundrum as it ends.  If you have read The Handmaid's Tale then you are familiar with this particular delicious style of Atwood's.  Oryx and Crake delivers a fully satisfying, if often unsettling, reading experience.

Margaret Atwood

I can't say that I "enjoyed" all of the novel, as the pre-apocalyptic world of Oryx and Crake is one not so much an alternate reality but a possible future was unnerving to me. Kiddie porn sites and snuff films are common viewing material for even young teens.  The division between classes has become such that the elite live in guarded compounds which are like small cities.  Personal freedoms have been lost, or more accurately, cheerfully given up; scientific discovery, often frightening and unnatural, has become the most important advancement for society.  Probably the scariest part of the book is the close resemblance to our current society, and the question that poses of just how easy would it be to find ourselves in that situation, led their by the banner of "progress".

Oryx and Crake is a thrilling, terrifying and often uncomfortable read.  It is not for the faint of heart or apathetic of mind, but makes excellent material for much thought and discussion.

American Vampire, Volume One

American Vampire Vol. 1
Scott Snyder and Stephen King, authors
Rafael Albuquereque, illustrator
Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: Vertigo (October 5, 2010)
Mature Audience
5/5 stars

I wish there was some way to convince those who raise their eyebrows and wrinkle their nose in distaste over graphic novels to just give them a try. I was one of those, and am so thankful I was a big enough fan of Neil Gaiman's novels to give his Sandman series a try. I've read some really good ones--few, if any, better than Britten and Brülightly--and some pretty poor quality ones as well.  I'm happy to say that American Vampire is creme de la graphic novel creme.

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There are two stories, told simultaneously in American Vampire.  The first, Snyder's part of the novel, is the story of Pearl trying to make her way in Hollywood during the 1920's.  Pearl falls victim to a vampire attack and a strange man vampire, Skinner Sweet, helps her out.  Sort of.  Pearl seeks revenge, thanks to Sweet's gift, and the reader watches her go from lovely, gentle flapper one moment to disgustingly grotesque and violent the next--and cheers for her the whole way. 

The story that begins with the second chapter is written by Stephen King, and is Skinner Sweet's back story, taking place some forty years early in the Wild West.  Through it, the reader finds out how and why Sweet became a vampire, and what is motivating him--and what makes an American Vampire different from the European vampires. As is to be expected, a hard new country like the United States creates a hard new kind of vampire.  In addition, he writes an excellent introduction, validating the graphic novel as a medium.  A very good read for those not convinced that it is a legitimate literary medium.

The stories are told alternating, first a chapter about Pearl, then a chapter about Sweet, so that they finish up together in the last two chapters.  It may sound awkward, but the back-and-forth flow was actually excellent, with a certain amount of parallels between the two stories.  Both Snyder and King write a good story, with solid characters, riveting plot lines and some terrifying instances.

Albuquereque brings it all to life with his drawings, full of bold lines and brilliant colors and lots of scary bits and gore.  His vampires are frightening and horrible and they do unspeakable (but not undrawable) things to their victims.  As the reader takes in the background, and sees the horror of the scenes, at times it's enough to turn the stomach.  On the other hand, his ladies are very lovely, he drew some strong heroes and used some very effective, unusual angles and compositions.  As for Skinner Sweet. . . well, darn it, despite King's introduction all about how American Vampire reclaims the evil vampire from the sexy mold it's been placed in of late, Albuquereque draws Sweet as rather desirable. Even seeing Sweet at his worst, I could turn the page and see him turn on the charm and forget just how evil he really was--and then be whammed again by his horrible actions.  I think that was the artist's intent: another way to show just how dangerous these American vampires are.

The collaboration between these three was wonderful and produced a story both haunting and satisfying.  American Vampire does reclaim the vampire from it's present fictional state, and successfully gives it new blood with this new American breed. I look forward to following Sweet's further adventures in American history, with pleasant trepidation because I expect the story will be creepy and icky but sensational, just like this volume.  (I already have Volume Two on pre-order!)

~~Read for the Graphics Novel Challenge.~~

Juniper Berry

Juniper Berry
M. P. Kozlowsky
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Walden Pond Press (April 26, 2011)
Amazon Vine ARC reviewed.
4/5 stars

Subtitled "a tale of terror and temptation", Juniper Berry is a modern day fairy tale.  Our heroine is the brave preteen, Juniper Berry.  Juniper is the daughter of film actors, who have become very famous over the course of the past few years.  The more famous they have become, the more odd they have acted and the more they have distanced themselves from her.  She is sad and lonely and would willingly give up everything to have her old life back.

One day she spots a boy about her age, trespassing in her woods.  Over the course of conversation with her new friend, she discovers that his parents, too, are famous and distant.  Even worse: Giles has seen them doing something very odd in Juniper's woods.

Piecing together the unthinkable, Juniper and Giles set out to save their parents from whatever influence is causing this behavior.  What they discover changes them both, and Juniper faces tough choices, terrible temptation, but comes through a true fairy tale heroine.

Juniper Berry  is told from an omniscient narrator and occasionally uses words that I feel are probably not in the vocabulary of a 9-12 year old.  This happens early in the book, though, and the narration evens out as the story builds.  It has a good pace, and the story unfolds smoothly.  The characters of Juniper and Giles are particularly appealing, making their weaknesses seem all the more vulnerable and believable.   Juniper's parents are truly horrible, and the reader is able to feel Juniper's mix of hurt and confusion, making the redemption of said parents even sweeter.

Like most fairy tales, Juniper Berry has a moral, and it is spelled out very plainly at the end by the wood chopper (yes, there IS a wood chopper, told you this is a fairy tale!), Dmitri:

"There will always be temptation, wherever we go in life, with whatever we do.  There will always be an easier way out.  But there's nothing to gain from that.  We have to overcome such urges; we have to be stronger.  I fought hard and won."

While the moral of this story is a good one, it came across a bit preachy to me.  I felt like this moral of resisting temptation and winning as a result was obvious from Juniper's actions and didn't need to be spelled out.  However, I am not one of the targeted age-group; I am an adult reader.

This was Kozlowsky's first novel, and overall he did well.  There are a few things (namely vocabulary and blatant moralizing) that I think could be improved, and I expect will be improved with his next publication.  I hope he is published again soon, and would look forward to reading another of his fairy tales.

~~Read for the "fairy tale" category of the Once Upon a Time Challenge~~
I felt that Juniper Berry was a solid choice for the fairy tale category, as it contained many of the traditional elements of a fairy tale.  There is an unusually brave and selfless heroine, elements of the supernatural, an animal that can communicate with people and an unspeakably evil villain.  The ending is a happy one, with a universal moral.

It does differ from many of standard fairy tales, as it is set in modern day, and there is no magic for our heroine to use, not everyone involved does live happily ever after, and there is no under privileged person gaining what s/he deserves as a result. 

In addition, Juniper Berry feels like a fairy tale.  It's not obvious at first, but once the action starts happening, one realizes that this is a layered fairy tale, that there will be a moral, that it's not just a fantasy.  I think it's the temptation element that does it.  It seems to me that many fairy tale heroes have to resist a temptation that seems really great on the outside, but will ruin them if they take it.

Yes, on the whole, Juniper Berry follows the fairy tale template more so than not, and quite successfully so, to my mind.