(Mean) Girrrl Power, Victorian-Supernatural Style

About 1/3 of the way into A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray, I wondered what in the world I might do to act on this coming-of-age/myth-tinged supernatural fantasy/Victorian historical novel-of-manners.  But by 1/2 way through, I knew.

Any action advancing my own girl power, despite what society might say, will do quite nicely, thank you.  And so much of this novel focuses on young women's attention to and judgment of their appearances, that working with image will factor in strongly.

So:  I'll ponder my own persona to refine it, both in real life and on the interwebs.  AND I'll own up to the fact that most people buying and talking and blogging about books these days are female, so those are the folks I must think of as my primary audience and the first wave of Action Readers.

Let's face it, plenty of research has shown us that when you give $ or education to women, they tend to use these resources to improve their entire communities at far higher rates than men do, who tend to use substantial amounts for their own personal purposes.  AND women tend to make up 85+% of the people in book groups.  So why not begin by focusing primarily on women and youth for our movement to change the world, one book at a time?

Don't get me wrong: I love men.  And they will be welcome at all times.  But this book has helped to convince me - through the mode of story rather than argument - that women who own their power and beauty can change not only this world, but the Realms beyond. 

And, conversely, they can be far crueler than men, not only to advance important purposes in their lives, but sometimes just for sport.  So I want all my endeavors to contain elements that reward behaviors that demonstrate compassion and non-harming, helping to shape young women especially into the decent folks who can save the world.  The 'killer instinct' will survive on its own, I have no doubt.

So you may be asking yourself, what in the world is this book about, anyway?  Well, you might remember Libba Bray from Going Bovine, the recent Prinz winner (best YA fiction of the year) and my review What If Holden Caulfield Wrote The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy? (link here). This is her first novel, quite far afield from GB in time period, tone, and focus.  And utterly solid, compulsively readable at that.  It's the first in a trilogy, of which I realized I'd read the last book a year or so ago when one of my students was doing so as well.  Reading A Great and Terrible Beauty has been a bit like watching the ole claymation classic (and best Christmas special EVER), "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town":  "Oh, so that's why he wears a red suit!" and "Oh!  He laughs Ho! Ho! Ho! just like a seal!"  I finally understand much more of the backstory to The Sweet Far Thing and rather wish I'd gone in the order the author intended!

Super-quick Summary/Teaser:  Gemma Doyle, recently of India where her mother was murdered trying to save her from the otherworldly evil-incarnate Circe, arrives at Spence Academy in England only to find a group of uber-catty teens playing some pretty vicious mean-girl smack-down day in, day out.  Gemma keeps having visions of other Realms, including those of a little girl who leads her to a cave in the forest nearby where she discovers a diary of two previous Spence girls who became witches and then died trying to conjure ole Circe.  One thing leads to another and 2 catty girls plus Gemma's poor, ungraceful roommate create their own little cult.  One wants beauty, one love, one power, one to know herself.  Rising action of the plot ensues.

And a rip-snorter of a plot it is.  You will NOT be bored reading A Great and Terrible Beauty, though you might be appalled at the girls' actions, and I wouldn't suggest reading it just before sleep... Although it's not wildly graphic most of the time, creepiness abounds, not to mention some surprisingly steamy dream sequences.

Sample Chapter to test the waters of Bray's style in this novel (oh so different from Going Bovine), try this excerpt:"Chapter One"

Sweet theme-related Bray quote from the bonus author interview: "The thing is that every choice carries with it a sense of personal responsibility and accountability and a degree of insecurity.  You have to live with that and step outside the fear." (11)

Give it a whirl if you're ready to own your girl power, or just want to recall the darker side of growing up.

MFB,
L

2011 Challenge for Readers: Compassionate Action

Ask and you shall receive.  And be careful what you ask for.

I'd been musing this week on what sort of reading challenge I could offer us all.  Yesterday, the answer offered itself:

The Reading-for-Change 2011 Challenge:

Read 1 book/month dedicated to encouraging or supporting your own peaceful discourse, empathy, orcompassion.  Then take one action in your community - or the larger world - related to each book you read. 

JOIN ME.  It's easy:

1. Just write your first name in the comments section below, plus any books you know you'll read or wish to suggest to us all.  Leave contact info. if you like, or remain anonymous if you choose.  I''ll curate your book suggestions on a separate page here.

2.  If you want to stay in touch, "follow" me.  And/or subscribe to any of the feeds.

Some ideas that spring immediately from my shelves today:

Citizen You by Jonathan Tisch
Twelve Steps To A Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong
The Dragonfly Effect by Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith
The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan
Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet by Lappe and Lappe
Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin
The New Kings of NonFiction edited by Ira Glass
Peace Is Every Step by Thich Naht Hahn (old favorite)
The Illuminated Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, illustrated by Michael Green (old favorite)

Additional Ideas
A book by a thoughtful individual who holds views antithetical to yours
A book of philosophy from a culture or time period or perspective other than your own
A core religious text from a tradition other than your current one or the one you were raised in
A book about a country or a group of people currently or previously "at war" with your own group
A book on positive social change or cultivating civil discourse
A book about - or from the perspective of - another species (The Art of Racing in the Rain, for instance)
A book (fiction, memoir, history) with a character - like Atticus Finch, for instance - who inspires
A book (fiction, memoir, history) from the perspective of an individual you wouldn't normally care about
A book that's an old favorite related to the challenge.
A book of poetry related to the challenge.

In peace, as in all else, MFB,
L

FYI: I always suggest buying books from your local bookseller to get yourself out there interacting with and supporting your community.  However, if you don't have access, you might try either betterworldbooks.com or indiebound.org. 

I promise to read all comments, so if you have a question or want suggestions directly from me, just let me know. 

If comments start to pile up, I'll add a widget/gadget to collect additional signatures.

You Reading This, Be Ready

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life -

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

 
                                         ~ William Stafford



Given yesterday.  Given hate speech accepted as common practice among some politicians and propagated by some media sources to get money and power.  Given the literal targetting of innocents in a bid to win political contests.  Given all of this, and given all our resolving and adjusting and reinventing during this first week of a new year, still: 

perhaps these questions might guide us home again. 

What to do... What to do... College kids stump me.

Of the 20+ books I've read since starting this quest, this one is hands-down the toughest to take action on.  Therefore, I figure, it offers the greatest potential reward once I discover what's to do. At least that's what I tell myself.   

So, Action First: 
What if I take the bus(es) to my local Western Washington University's Viking Union and simply act like Nathan-the-anthropologist, see what develops?  I'll take a stroll around the campus, hang out at the student center, and just let conversations happen naturally.  My big question:  Do the students here contribute to their community(s) - or at least wish to - or are they, like those at AnyU in My Freshman Year, focused on fun and future $$ to the point where civic contribution isn't ever on their radar screens?  I'll bring my laptop and a book so I can work if need be, but I harbor a sneaking hope that I might get the spirit of Reading-for-Change moving there... Why not?

Or... Why??

Community - or, more to the point, lack thereof - in American university settings is a consistent theme in My Freshman Year: What A Professor Learned from Becoming A Student.  In it, anthropologist Rebekah Nathan hypothesizes that the sheer number of choices students are given results in highly individualized schedules and living situations, so that few people are ever together for a substantial portion of each day.  Add that to the fact that over 1/2 the students work, and what you get is fairly inevitable fragmentation, little sense of community. 

In her conclusion, Nathan (pseudonym for Cathy Small) offers some hope:  Although students may act one way in the aggregate, individual students may well share a view of college not simply as a place to party and a means to make money one day, but also as a means to become wiser, better-informed citizen/community members.  She suggests leveraging the students in such subcultures (environmentally-engaged and social service-minded students - not just those volunteering to put it on their resumes) to help renew a sense of community. 

On the other hand, she does an excellent job of showing us how much more expensive it is to go to University now than it was back-in-the day, and notes that while in the 1910's about 15% of high school grads went to college, in the 1960's about 48% of them went to college, and now over 71% do.  This means more students with the need to work to put themselves through school, more students who need remediation (since now not just "the cream of the intellectual and/or economic crop" are included), and more students with a "careerist" focus, expecting college to provide specific job-related training alone, thus rejecting the liberal arts/citizenship angle altogether.

Finally, Nathan suggests that universities should stand apart from politics and business as keepers of the liberal arts legacy, but wonders whether they will.  She asks - with students - what is the point of universities nowadays?  And she insists that the best we can do is make our own individual sense of what's at stake, what they should be or do, known.

This made me wonder: What do I really want the world - or at least my corner of it - to look like in 10-20 years?  If little else, this book prompted this relatively profound question, plus a (typically) stellar conversation with my incomparable book group (really, everyone should be so blessed, and I'm working with them to try to figure out what makes this collaboration of individuals so above-and-beyond every other book group I've been part of), so it was worth the "meh" reading experience.

Incidental Action:  I need to go check w/my school district to see if I can offer a course that balances school-based learning with service to the school community and neighborhood.  Yes, that's the action that's sticking right now.  If college students are already pretty much set in their patterns of self-centeredness or outward-centeredness, then our only hope is to help them find a balance in high school so that once they emerge from the "liminal" state that is college, they will be inclined to re-connect with community and world in a way that serves all beings.

MFB,
L

p.s.  Promised prose snippet here, so you can confirm that Nathan's ideas and research are conveyed fluidly.

Not Your Maycomb's Radleys...Blog Tour!




Click above to purchase your own copy!

If you were thinking Harper Lee, you'd best think again.

Yes, their surname was inspired by Boo, Nathan, and fam (at least according to a press interview), and they're also the somewhat "other" oft-gossiped-over neighbors, but that's about all that connects them to To Kill A Mockingbird.  These are other Radleys altogether.  They live in a sleepy little English village and try quite hard to abstain.  They do not succeed.

You see, they're vampires, and they've moved from London to kick the blood habit and raise a couple of lovely - if anemic - kids.  Not surprisingly, since Helen and Peter have not told their teenage children about their unusual "inheritance", when a thuggish classmate tries to rape young Clara, her violent struggle unleashes killer instincts, setting in motion a veritable bloodbath accompanied by the return of their uber-hedonistic and ultra-vampirish Uncle Will. 

In the end, it's not simply a paranormal adventure, but also a story about the various shades of love and desire and obsession and addiction, and about the complexity and power of familial relationships.

My response:  I held high hopes for The Radleys, having admired Matt Haig's earlier novel, The Dead Fathers Club.  Although The Radleys wasn't quite as perfect a fit for my literary background as TDFC (I'm an avid Bard-o-phile but an utterly naive unblood when it comes to 'vampire lit.'), I did enjoy the complexity of the characters, the gentle satire of suburbia, and all the clever vampire-related motifs and metaphors.  I felt particular compassion for young Rowan's awkwardness and unflagging decency and for Clara's reaction to the power that shifts her from nondescript sideliner to pretty 'popular girl'.  In fact, it was the teens' development as they faced the challenges of discovering an utterly unexpected and decidedly dicey new aspect of their identities that most engaged me throughout this novel.

Although I've only had brief brushes with recent vampire-related books, (Twilight, Beautiful Creatures) I'd wager that this would be a cut well above your general vamp-lit writing-wise, so if that's your genre, definitely give this one a go.  I personally don't see it as a YA book so much as an adult read that some sophisticated teens could appreciate, but it certainly offers far more complexity and - dare I say - depth than either of the two titles I mentioned above.  (Then again, Life of Pi sits in the children's section of my local bookstore, so what do I know?)  Plus: plenty of plot twists, violence, passion, and intensity too, so if those intrigue you, reading The Radleys may be right up your (cold, dark) alley. 

Want additional summary or alternate perspectives?  Jump to this Goodreads The Radleys summary, then come on back.

Ponderable Quotes for Your Consideration:
Will: "This is the whole stupid thing about all these unblood relationships.  They depend on people's staying the same, standing in the same spot they were in over a decade ago, when they first met.  Surely the reality is that connections between people aren't permanent but fleeting and random, like a solar eclipse or clouds meeting in the sky.  They exist in a constantly moving universe full of constantly moving objects." (266)

Rowan (brother): "It felt strangely grown-up too, as though that's what being an adult was - knowing which secrets needed keeping.  And which lies will save the ones you love." (355)

From the fictive Abstainer's Handbook, pages of which appear at irregular intervals to highlight thematic shifts or to foreshadow events within the primary plot line and offer satirical "twelve-step"-ish advice comprised - in part - of bromides (such as):  "If blood is the answer, you're asking the wrong questions." 

Actions:  
1.  Get to know my neighbors. (I do know many of them, but not as well as apparently I should.  No idea whether/not they are actually vampires, werewolves, aliens, etc., for example.)  Actually, there's a house behind us that our friends call "The Titanic" because it was built so close to our lot line that it looks as though a mammoth cruise ship weighed anchor in our back yard.  Scary-loud parties w/hysterical women screaming and what might have been gunshots accompanied the Titanic's "christening", and we were so unnerved that we haven't properly introduced ourselves yet.  Clearly, it's time to whip up a batch of brownies and bravely step up onto their porch. Or maybe I'll tie a note to the end of a fishing pole and dangle it over the fence instead.  (I'm definitely not about to go creeping around in their collard patch, though...)

2.  Abstain.  The metaphor of blood as wine/drug ran a red river through this novel, and the challenge of fighting addiction was a central struggle here.  So, I'll task myself with a little experiment in the name of cultivating empathy:  I'll lay off all beer and wine and sweets for at least a month, just to see if I experience any pangs of longing or remorse when I withdraw from our culture's more typical food-related vices. And I think I'll use whatever money I save to buy more organic, local food.  (See blog posts about The Compassionate Instinct, including "Pollan-anna" and "Fail".)  How crazy-virtuous of me.  I'll be insufferable, no doubt, for the entire seven hours I can keep away from the swank Christopher Elbow Artisanal    Chocolates on the kitchen counter. (Curse/bless my tasteful brother's holiday cheer...)

Until next time, MFB sans blood and Boo,
L

Switch: Sticky for Change

Not as in "the carrot and the...". In fact, the Heath brothers intentionally steer clear of offering negative motivators like punishments or the threat of dire consequences, choosing instead to focus on what might be done to entice "riders" and "elephants" down the path of change.

That's the Heaths' overarching metaphor in this newest release Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, in which the Rider is the analytical, thinking self, the Elephant is emotional, and the path is, well, the path.  Of change.

While not quite as rich for me as Made to Stick, there's still plenty here to consider on a conceptual level, and plenty to work with as one attempts to apply the lessons here to potential shifts in one's professional and personal endeavors.  (Another bit of book-magic:  When I created my first draft of this post not three days ago, I used the phrase "not as timely for me" instead of "not as rich" above.  Now, the content's timing is perfect.)

Warning, though:  This book is about concepts and - at times - strategy.  You won't find super-specific tactics here except in case studies and in one brief appendix about overcoming obstacles.  So if you're looking for a step-by-step, do this, now this, now this, and voi la! change will occur, look elsewhere.  If, however, you enjoy or at least accept the notion that you may use your own judgment and understanding of your individual circumstances to apply concepts judiciously, then you'll likely appreciate the inspiration in this characteristically breezy, example-laden book.  For a sample of their prose, try the "look inside" feature at Amazon (also linked at cover photo above).  If you're inclined to buy the book, do also consider shopping at betterworldbooks.com or through your local independent bookseller. (Try finding one through indiebound.org - linked in my righthand sidebar.  And, FYI:  I'm not currently an 'affiliate' of any book sales site, so I don't receive income when you use them.  Attempting to stay impartial, at least at present).

To get a sense of the additional free materials the brothers Heath have to offer (and there's plenty), go check out their website: http://heathbrothers.com/ .

Action:  A three-point plan for The Big Switch 2011. (World domination scheduled for 2012, so relax, folks...)

1. Switch on the bigger-reach mojo:  Must extend influence from teaching locally into additional roles as expert reader-for-change and enthusiast-coach-mentor in the wider the world.
 
2.  Clean up my act. No movement if no space to move so, in a word:  Declutter.  My gergillion books and papers and seemingly self-propagating piles of assorted consumer goods must be purged.  Triple bottom line says: Offer useful items back to the world first, recycle or reuse others.  I AM Flylady.com.

3.  And not only Flylady: I used to be Batgirl and Supergirl too.  But then I moved to the Pacific Northwest and gained the requisite 20 lbs. of sloth and sluggishness.  Now I just wanna get back in that purple catsuit with the red wig.  SO must return to extreme fitness (also, paradoxically, a Pacific Northwest requirement), replete with energy, strength, flexibility, canniness, and reserves of wise compassion so that my plentiful super-actions arise from consideration for the benefit of all beings.

These will all amount to 2-3-month projects (such an optimist), but if I set aside 4-6 hours every day for Numero Uno and 1.5 hours/day for each of the latter two, and if I use the Switch strategies, I'm betting that I can make it all happen.  Just picture me cyber-gallivanting across the globe in that purple Batgirl outfit, saving the world from imminent disaster, then returning home to one gloriously clean apartment.  Color me Barbara Gordon...

Note to self: Con los tres cambios enormes looming on the horizon, shoehorning in more book actions is going to be a puzzler indeed.  Or should that be a Riddler? 

Ah well, it''ll just have to be a case of MFB,
L

She Had Some Horses (part I)

She had some horses.

She had horses who were bodies of sand.
She had horses who were maps drawn of blood.
She had horses who were skins of ocean water.
She had horses who were the blue air of sky.
She had horses who were fur and teeth.
She had horses who were clay and would break.
She had horses who were splintered red cliff.
 
She had some horses.
 
She had horses with long, pointed breasts.
She had horses with full, brown thighs.
She had horses who laughed too much.
She had horses who threw rocks at glass houses.
She had horses who licked razor blades.
 
She had some horses.
 
She had horses who danced in their mothers' arms.
She had horses who thought they were the sun and their bodies shone and burned like stars.
She had horses who waltzed nightly on the moon.
She had horses who were much too shy, and kept quiet in stalls of their own making.
 
She had some horses.
 
She had horses who liked Creek Stomp Dance songs.
She had horses who cried in their beer.
She had horses who spit at male queens who made them afraid of themselves.
She had horses who said they weren't afraid.
She had horses who lied.
She had horses who told the truth, who were stripped bare of their tongues.
 
She had some horses.
 
She had horses who called themselves, "horse."
She had horses who called themselves, "spirit." and kept their voices secret and to themselves.
She had horses who had no names.
She had horses who had books of names.
 
She had some horses.
 
She had horses who whispered in the dark, who were afraid to speak.
She had horses who screamed out of fear of the silence, who carried knives to protect themselves from ghosts.
She had horses who waited for destruction.
She had horses who waited for resurrection.
 
She had some horses.
 
She had horses who got down on their knees for any savior.
She had horses who thought their high price had saved them.
She had horses who tried to save her, who climbed in her bed at night and prayed as they raped her.

She had some horses.

She had some horses she loved.
She had some horses she hated.
 
These were the same horses.

             - Joy Harjo 2006