The Hunger Games Trilogy

Some of you have heard of the Hunger Games Trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins, I presume? Shane brought the first book home last week, and I have been devouring the series ever since. Plot-wise, it's a little Battle Royale set in a North American dystopia, but the story is still very compelling (even though it's a 'Teen' book). It's a page-turner, and Collins crafts a very flawed, very strong and at times admirable heroine in Katniss Everdeen, who survives because of her single-mindedness. There are moments that will make you cry, and these moments are surprising because they are ones of unexpected kindness. As far as trilogies go, this one ended as it should, though I suspect it's not as satisfying as people would have liked it to be.

The books take you some where, and the journey is pretty incredible.

The Wonderful Art of Alex Gross

from Alex Gross' website

You know how sometimes you suddenly stumble upon an image that grabs you, that some how seems utterly familiar and fitting to you? And how suddenly you wonder how this artist has never been part of your life before? Well, this was what happened to me on Saturday.

We were browsing in one of Vancouver's excellent art book stores, Oscar's Art Books, and what did I see on the sale table, but the the most fascinating looking book, The Art of Alex Gross. I took a look through his paintings in the book, which are full of anachronisms, Japanese pop art, vintage images, and art history references. The faces were distant but full of feeling, and the colours reminded you both of commercial art and really old paintings. This guy's got skills.

The book was on sale, which is another bonus. It's quite a big, heavy book, so the only downside to purchasing it was having to lug it around all over Granville Island and Vancouver.

Don't you love it when you find an artist you like? It's like finding a soul mate or something.

For more about Alex Gross, visit his website here.

John Thompson: Collected Poems and Translations

It's hard to tell if someone reads poetry or not. I read poetry. However, it seems that a lot of people are really puzzled by it and don't really know what to do with a poem. But there is nothing to be done to a poem: you don't need to analyze it, fully understand it, or know what it's trying to say. Like encountering an animal, you just have to sit beside it and be with it. Most poems you sense its nature and never fully understand. That is good. That is mystery, which is very good.

Just read the poem, in silence, or out loud into silence, and have the patience to be with it. It will give you the treasures you've forgotten about.

So I've been dipping into the Collected Poems of John Thompson (edited by Peter Sanger), and have been awed (again) by his talent. He was a Canadian poet/university instructor who died in his thirties; his story is really sad. But he was a visionary with the written word and wrote about the intimacies of life and nature. His two books, At the Edge of Chopping There are No Secrets and Stilt Jack, are brilliant and have influenced a whole generation of Canadian poets. Even though the poems are more than 40 years old, they still feel fresh and immediate.

From "The Onion":

I cup the onion I watched grow all summer:

cutting perfectly through its heart

it speaks a white core, pale

green underskin, the perfections

I have broken, the curing grace

the knife releases;

and then you are by me, unfolded

to a white stillness, remade warmth on warmth

Shutter Island

Ok, I confess: the first time I'd heard of this work was by seeing the trailer of Shutter Island in the movie theatre. It looked creepy and pretty awesome. The setting, an island prison, kind of reminded me of Alcatraz (the highlight of our SF trip last winter), and the period was a little Mad Men-ish.

So I was a more than a little surprised when Shane brought home this book Shutter Island from the library! It's a book? Huh? So the book came first, and the author, Dennis Lehane, is pretty damn famous, having written other books that became movie adaptations, such as Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone.

You know how some books you sip like fine wine, savouring the taste and the swishes in your mouth? Well this one is decidedly a piping hot pizza loaded with cheese that you just devour in a few minutes. It's a page turner, grips you and compels you to read it to the end. I finished this book in about 2 days, and it even made me miss my skytrain stop (by three stops!) while I was reading it.

It's set in the late 50's, and is about a Marshall who is sent to the prison island to investigate a missing female prisoner. But the prison is also a pyschiatric hospital, filled with people who have done the worst crimes, and who are extremely dangerous and unbalanced. It becomes clear that the place is not exactly what it seems....

It's a story full of twists, and the book takes really unexpected turns. A recommended thriller, especially if you're in the mood for something lighter that will pass the time in a snap.

Arc of Justice

Earlier this month, John McWhorter of The Root posted an article on 10 books about race that haven’t gotten enough attention. I’m not so current with what’s out there, but as I went through his list, I thought, “of course this is important”, “of course this book has to be read.” So I went to my local library and got an armload of books.

I spent an entire weekend reading and finishing Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, by Kevin Boyle. The book is about the experiences of Dr. Ossian Sweet, a Black doctor who had the audacity to move into a house in a white neighbourhood of Detroit in the late 1920's. Dr. Sweet was this remarkable man whose parents had been slaves in Florida, and who, with hard work and determination, went to Howard University and became a medical doctor. There is murder, unbelievable racism, the rising influence of the KKK, and a grippping courtroom drama featuring Clarence Darrow.

The book is so well written that it reads like a brilliant work of fiction. I couldn't put it down. This book won the National Book Award in 2004, and deservedly so.

A recommended read, to be sure.