Fiction Friday (82)

When I was choosing my next book to read a few weeks back, I decided to dig into the "to-read" shelves in my office and came across my signed copy of After Alice. Having been a huge Alice fan since my teen years, I was partially surprised that this has sat on my shelf for four years. Having just finished reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to my daughter, and it still fresh in my mind, it seemed like a good time to read this.

After Alice by Gregory Maguire
(William Morrow, 2015)

 In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice mentions one friend and mentions her exactly once. Her name is Ada, and all we know from Alice is that she wears her hair in ringlets. From that one glimpse, Gregory Maguire gives us this novel. Now, it's not that surprising as he's made a career out of spinning out stories from classic children's literature. What struck me about this book was how he was able to grasp the parameters of Lewis Carroll's world and expand on it in such a precise way that makes the reader feel as though they are inhabiting the same place, unlike say, The Looking Glass Wars which re-invents Wonderland.

Alternating between Ada's attempt to navigate Wonderland, and the frantic search happening in Oxford on that fateful summer day, this book, while slow to begin, becomes entirely engrossing after the first 50 pages or so. It's as much a commentary on Victorian society as it is an examination of the peculiar imaginary land. 

We've only ever seen Wonderland through Alice's eyes, a child who is strong-willed and confident. Ada is a very different child, and her perception of this place gives us new things to consider. I found this book to be extremely well-written (though the author does tend to be a bit pretentious a times). His inventions of Wonderland fit seamlessly with the original, something that was not easy to achieve. I would say this is a must read for serious Alice fans.  

Fiction Friday (24)

This month I read two books that pair well together. Both were historical fiction that center around two of my long time literary obsessions, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and In the Realms of the Unreal. Beyond the obvious similarities in these two works of literature, both displaying incredibly imaginative worlds, there are other interesting connections. Both books owe much of their existence to specific children who inspired the authors in different ways, and both books were written by authors with many unanswered questions about their lives. Given that, I thought the two novels below, inspired by the above mentioned works, would make for an interesting edition of Fiction Friday. Enjoy.

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
(Random House, 2010)

Among fans of Lewis Carroll's work, there seems to be just as much fascination with the story of his life as there is with the fictional stories, specifically his relationship with Alice Pleasance Liddell, the little girl for whom he created his most famous work, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Though biographies of the author, of which I have read many, cover this aspect of his life in detail, there has been little attempt to examine the relationship from the point of view of the other person involved. There are very few biographies about the "real" Alice, and most don't delve too deeply into the circumstances surrounding her interaction with Charles Dodgeson (aka Lewis Carroll), which is probably what made Melanie Benjamin's novel Alice I Have Been an instant success when it came out.

Though I was excited upon its publication, I held off reading it until this month. When this novel came out, I had recently read Katie Rophie's Still She Haunts Me, a novel that also imagines the relationship between Alice and the author. I loved that novel, and wanted to wait for it to pass through my system before entering Benjamin's world. While they cover a lot of the same territory, the books are very different. The focus of this novel is the little girl and her thoughts and feelings, and properly leaves the intentions of others to her speculation, as any first person narrative should.

Beyond the appeal of telling a story that has long captured my curiosity, this is a remarkably poignant coming of age tale about a girl who doesn't really want to grow up, but who like all of us, must. It's a touching portrait of a child caught in situations that she cannot completely understand, and ultimately has to live with the consequences imposed by witnessing adults. In many ways, this imagining of Alice's life is similar to the themes in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland about the nonsensical rules of an adult world imposed on a child.

I really enjoyed that the book didn't end where most discussions of Alice end. It continued on, exploring her grown up life in depth, and the kind of burden that came with being "the real Alice". I also appreciated how it didn't attempt to settle the long standing debate on the nature of Lewis Carroll and his intentions when it came to his child friends. Through the entire novel, Alice remained the focus and how the ambiguous historical events may have been seen through a child's eyes, and later how they may have affected her. It was tragic at times, beautiful at others, and always engaging.

While many of the facts concerning the interactions between Alice and Lewis Carrol have been intentionally lost, either by the elimination of his dairy pages after his death or the destruction of the letters he wrote to a young Alice by her mother, Benjamin's portrayal feels very plausible. But the great thing about this book is that it doesn't really matter if they are factual or not. As a novel, the interpretations are carried through with incredible skill, creating a character as unforgettable as the real life inspiration. (My Pinterest Board of Alice Liddell)

Outsider by Stephen Tobias

(Book Publishers Network, 2013)

The life of Henry Darger, one the most intriguing Outsider artists to emerge in the last thirty years, certainly contains enough mysterious elements to conjure up a great novel. Instead of trying to get into the mind of someone whose intentions and thoughts are much debated, Stephen Tobias decides to tell the story of the landlord who discovered Darger's alarming illustrations for his manuscript of the longest novel ever written, In the Realms of the Unreal.

While based on facts surrounding the life of Darger, this novel is the story of Nathan Learner, a semi-successful photographer who has lost his desire to take pictures after his ten-year old daughter's long losing battle with cancer. Remarried, he is surviving on his real estate holdings and a teaching job at a Chicago art school when one his long-time tenants succumbs to age and illness. When Herman Viereck is taken to a nursing home, Nathan is tasked with the chore of cleaning out his apartment and sorting through the stuff left behind. What he finds ends up being an astonishing treasure of art produced in secret over the years.

Eventually Nathan decides that the work needs to be shared with the public for a variety of reasons. The art is so unique and visionary that he feels it would be a travesty to deny sharing it with the art world, but there are also finical reasons because by selling the artwork, he can recoup the rent owed on the apartment, and later, pay for Herman's funeral. But as the art becomes a sensation, he begins to dig deeper into the experiences that caused Herman to produce the shocking images of the Vivian girls endless, horrific war depicted in the illustrations and manuscript. This investigation leads him to the unsolved murder of a child years before.

Since many of the details of Darger's life are unknown, this is the aspect of the novel that takes liberties with the story. While it's known that Darger was obsessed with the murder of five-year-old Elsie Paroubek, it's unknown why, though there is some speculation that he may have somehow been involved in the child's death. It is also known that Darger spent most of his childhood in a mental home, and the book speculates on the horrific influence it may have had on him.

While these elements are fascinating, and the main reason I read the book, the surprising strength of the novel lies in its examination of the art world and how it creates and celebrates myth in order to sell art. It's look at grief and loss is also quite compelling as Nathan comes to terms with his daughter's death, and the realization that there was much he didn't know about her.

This is a great read for those interested in Henry Darger, but I feel my enjoyment relied heavily on my knowledge of the artist's life. I strongly recommend that readers research Henry Darger before reading Outsider, or if not, then definitely after finishing it. I worry that some readers will take this account as accurate, and therefore condemn Henry Darger to characteristics that may or may not be true. (My Pinterest Board of Darger art)

 (Elsie Paroubek/ Alice Liddell)

Happy Mad Hatter Day

"If you knew Time as well as I do," said the Hatter, "you wouldn't talk about wasting it. It's him."

Oh happiest of nonsense holidays! Today has been declared Mad Hatter Day, thanks to the 10/6 fraction on the Hatter's hat in the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrations. It's a day where silliness is allowed and tea parties can be endless with simply moving around the table. 

For me it's always a time to reflect on one of the most important books and authors to influence my own career. The Hatter embodies one of the key elements to the theme of the book that has always been central for me. He represents the absurdity of adults and adult conversation when viewed through the eyes of a child. One of the key themes of the book is how unfair rules set up by grown ups can be. This is a theme that I've focused on through the children's books I've written. As adults, if we can remain aware of this, it can go a long way in making us remember that there is a lot we can learn from children.

Fiction Friday (9)

One of the best things about reading a long novel is the speed at which others seem to fall in its wake. Anyone else notice how much faster the next book goes down after trudging through some epic? Of course, none of that matters if you don't pick the right book to read. I've always felt that choosing the next book is a lot like creating a music playlist. Making awkward jumps can be unnerving. But sometimes I find myself ignoring those rules simply because there is something I've been dying to read. That's what happened last time I picked out a book. Needless to say, it didn't turn out too good. This latest book reminded me of another which I felt the same way about last year. I thought I'd share them both. Though neither really grabbed me, I think the 11 year old inside of me would have enjoyed both and therefore they are worthy of mention.

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
(Del Ray, 2007)

When I first read about this book, I admit that a little drool formed in the corners of my mouth. To say a story heavily inspired by Neverwhere and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is right up my alley would be an understatement. So when I got this book, I tore right into, only to find that while it may have been inspired by those other stories, it lacked their inspiration.

The story takes the main character, a young girl named Deeba, into an alternate version of London named UnLondon. This city is alive with a cast of intriguing characters including trashcan ninjas, half-ghosts, utterlings (words that come to life) and other ideas that play on Lewis Carroll's brand of nonsense. The problem is, nearly all of the imagination put into creating UnLondon feels overly forced. Much like the environmental message of the book, it is so heavy-handed that it seems to take the joy right out of the story.

Another obstacle preventing me from loving this book was my lack of concern for really any of the characters, especially the main character. The structure is partly to blame for this. The beginning fifth of the book or so, the author tries to get the reader emotionally invested in Zanna. And then, just when you do start to care for her, she's out of the story. Deeba, a character who is frankly terrible in the first part of the book, now becomes the one we're supposed to follow and cheer for. I think I never quite got over that switch or my initial dislike of her.

It felt clear to me while reading Un Lun Dun that I was encountering a gifted writer who was working outside his comfort zone. Rather than criticize, I'd like to applaud the risk even if the end result felt a little flat. But all of that said, there was still plenty of enjoyable moments, especially the well-paced action scenes. I also thought the Black Windows of Webminster Abbey were one of the most fascinating elements I've encountered in a long time. Overall, disappointing but entertaining.

Starcross by Philip Reeve
(Bloomsbury, 2008)

What this book does have going for it; lots of action, twists galore, and plot to spare. For a lot of people, that makes for a great book. And if plot is your thing, I would say this book wouldn't fail to entertain. I can see tons of readers falling in love with this book for that very reason...unfortunately, I wasn't one of them.

Overall, the book felt extremely forced to me. I found a lot of the imaginative elements to be contrived. There are any number of writers who try to capture inventive ideas, but few can make them feel effortless, such as Roald Dahl for example. I also thought the characters were very stiff and kind of unappealing. There's an obvious attempt to create a tongue-in-cheek meta-narration such as you find in the Series of Unfortunate Events books, but never quite achieves it to the affect those books do. And in general, I just found the writing style to be sort of clunky. However, that's a matter of personal taste in writing style.

I also had a huge problem with Myrtle. She has to be one of the most obnoxious characters I've encountered in years. Granted, she's supposed to be the annoying older sister. However, her anti-feminist, 19th century young lady spiel is so irksome and I certainly don't want her as the narrator of two lengthy sections of the book. I also couldn't help finding myself wondering how her attitude plays out in the minds of young readers, especially since the target audience of this series is, without a doubt, boys. There is nothing cool about any of the female characters in this book, those traits are all reserved for the male characters. Seriously? How uncool is that.

I hate being harsh on books, especially books that I did genuinely enjoy at parts, such as this. I loved the Doctor Who spacey sci-fi adventure nature of this book. I also think this would be a great book for a reluctant boy reader. But when I see a mediocre book that gets such high acclaim as this (multiple star reviews, year-end best lists, etc), it really bothers me.

In all fairness, my 10 year old self would more than likely give this book 4 or 5 stars. But editors and book review publications are not 10 years old and should've come out this with a more educated view in my opinion.

A Day for Hares and Hatters

Poor Lewis Carroll, today is the day all of his un-birthdays have run out. All 364 used up and nothing left to celebrate except an actual birthday for one of the most important authors in my own path to authoring nonsense for the enjoyment of children. Happy Birthday old friend.

Little Birds are writing

Interesting books,

To be read by cooks:

Read, I say, not roasted--

Letterpress, when toasted,

Loses its good looks.

(from Sylvie and Bruno Concluded)

Let's Go A Story Hunting

"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,

As he landed his crew with care;

Supporting each man on the top of the tide

By a finger entwined in his hair.

"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:

That alone should encourage the crew.

Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:

What I tell you three times is true."

-Lewis Carroll from The Hunting of the Snark

I'm always on the hunt for a story. I seek them out the way some people seek out valuable antiques being sold for $1 at yard sales, garage sales, or tag sales as they are called on the wrong side of the Hudson River.

There are stories to be found in the oddest of places. I find them in the background of old photographs taken by strangers. I find them in the shortest bits of music hiding behind vocals. Of course, there's the fertile ground of my never-ending cycle of bizarre dreams. There are many stories to be found in books that are telling their own story if you just happen to let yourself go left when the character turns right. But these are only the places where I hunted and found stories today. The story has a million million different hiding places.

It's a tireless hunt and one must always be prepared with eyes like targets ready to zero in on the kill. Not every shot is worth taking. But eventually, the Snark will slip up and I'll be there to bag it and bind it within my own pages. It's just the kind of guy I am.