Two graphic novels

I've been missing in action again, dealing with personal stuff and another period of pregnancy exhaustion. I've also developed pregnancy related carpel tunnel syndrome, just to add to my list of woes, so sitting at the computer is not my favorite thing to do... I apologise, as I know I've been a terrible blogger and haven't visited anyone in ages. I shudder to think how many unread posts my reader has! I promise to catch up a bit in the next few days though.

I have been reading some, although not as much as I'd have liked to. Graphic novels have been somewhat easier to manage and I have now added an extra two to my list.

The first, The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg, was about a girl named Jane, whose family moves from a big city to suburbia following a terrorist attack. Jane misses the city though and finds it hard to adjust to her new life, with its limitations imposed by her terrified and paranoid mother. She makes some friends at school and as a group they start using art to pass on express themselves - which is seen as beautiful by some and as defacing public property by others. I liked the art and the message of The Plain Janes and can certainly recommend it.

Challenges: 2010 Countdown Challenge

The second graphic novel I recently read was American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. Now this one I absolutely loved. It consists of three seemingly separate stories that come together nicely in the end and is about Chinese young people growing up in the US and trying to fit into the American way of life. It's about identity and roots and how hard it is to come to terms with some of the labels that define you. A beautifully illustrated book with a very smart message, this will end up on my list of favorites for the year, I think.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, 2010 Countdown Challenge, Graphic Novels Challenge

Briar Rose

Many, many thanks to the blogging community for writing about books such as Jane Yolen's Briar Rose. I would never have heard of it otherwise and I would have missed out on so much. Briar Rose was a real page-turner, which I completely wasn't expecting. It had mystery, love, history and so much more. And parts of it took place in Poland which I thought was very cool, of course.

Briar Rose is part of The Fairy Tale Series created by Teri Windling. In the series, modern authors re-tell fairy tales in unusual ways. Briar Rose is the re-telling of Sleeping Beauty - Jane Yolen must be a genius, I certainly would never have thought of Sleeping Beauty in the way she did.

Basically, the book is about a grandmother who dies and a grand-daughter who tries to find out where her Grandma (her Gemma) came from. Gemma always said that she is Sleeping Beauty and that she came from a castle where everyone fell asleep, until she alone was wakened by a prince's kiss. Now if you want to see how this fits in with Nazi Germany, read the book. I won't tell you any more!

I loved that parts of the book that were set in Poland. Yolen describes Poland and its people and atmosphere exactly right. But many of the accents on Polish words were wrong - including on the one Polish word used most often. I would think that they could have checked that a bit better.

I loved this story and book. I could not tear myself away from it. I'd linger outside my building each morning reading, until I absolutely had to go into work. It's definitely one of this year's favorites and I can't wait to read more in this series and more by Jane Yolen. Any recommendations?

Challenges: Mythopoeic Challenge, Bang Bang Book Challenge

Kitchen

I found out about this book by Banana Yoshimoto via the Japanese Literature 2 Challenge - thanks to all who reviewed it before me! It was very interesting to read something Japanese that wasn't by Murakami, who has such a specific style. Kitchen is in fact a bestseller in Japan and is regarded as a cult example of modern Japanese literature. Fascinating stuff.

My edition included not only Kitchen itself but also a novella called Moonlight Shadow. Although it dealt with the same themes, the second novella wasn't as inspiring to me as the first.

Kitchen has that title because of the main character's affinity to kitchen in general. They make Mikage feel comfortable - I loved the way Yoshimoto's writing (and Megan Backus' translation) really let us feel this. The words made me feel warm inside.

Mikage has to deal with many issues - grief, family, loss, love, transsexuality. The way she does so is beautiful. I know that can't literally be true, that it's the writing that makes it beautiful, but that's what I felt when I read. She loses her grandmother, gains some friends and then loses another person close to her, a mother-figure. So much to cope with and yet she manages and shows so much intelligence.

The way the author phrases emotions and deep thoughts is so emotive, so starkly simple and yet with so many sub-components. Here's a passage that really spoke to me:

Why is it that we have so little choice? We live like the lowliest worms. Always defeated - defeated we make dinner, we eat, we sleep. Everyone we love is dying. Still, to cease living is unacceptable.

There were many passages like this one - another (which I can't find) spoke about how ignoring death is like ignoring life since they are connected, part of one another. Beautiful sentiments.

I'm so glad I read this and hope you will try it!

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, Japanese Literature 2