The Age of Rape

This is a story of a raped girl. The girl came from the wrong side of the tracks and the accused is the son of the sheriff, who can do no wrong. The book beings after Romy’s rape. She still attends the same school, but with an even higher level of intensity as the town joke and outcast. Nobody believes her and even her best friend betrayed her after the incident. After all, how could it be rape if she was actively pursuing a relationship with the accused?

Romy feels like a dead girl after the rape and the only time she feels like her normal self from before, is at her place of employment. At work nobody knows her back story. It is when her betraying ex-best friend unexpectedly comes to her work that everything explodes. It is not an action story, but there is a level of mystery involved that keeps the story moving along.

All the Rage has so many levels. The more I think about it the more I decide that it is brilliant in its own way. It moves slowly with bursts of suspense. I think that actually makes it more powerful. Everything is not always laid out for you. At times it is confusing, but to me that mirrors Romy’s character. She is confused and does crazy and reckless things to try and feel (or sometimes not feel) something.

Romy is obsessed with her perfect red lips and red nails. It is detailed many times the exact process she takes with these things before she is ready. At first I couldn’t figure out the point behind telling us this over and over. But like I said, not everything it laid out for you. I got the impression that the reason Romy is obsessed with her nail and lip routine (which I believe started after the rape) is multi-leveled. It could be that she uses it as the one thing in her life which she can control. Or, it could be a mask for her to hide behind. Another part of me wondered if the routine was actually used to draw attention so others would look at her. That they would hear her story instead of looking through her. It could be all three or even more based on what she was feeling at that certain moment.

I remember in high school learning about all the symbolism that can be found in a book. I hated it. I had a friend who wrote a short story for the class and the teacher found a bunch of symbolism in it that changed her story into something that she didn’t want to portray. Maybe that is how authors think of us now when we try and critique their work. “You are getting it all wrong!” Then again, that seems to be what makes a great story. When you can get so much more than the author even planned with their simple storytelling.

I loved this book. It had great character development and kept you thinking even after the book ended. You want to figure out why certain characters acted the way they did, why parts of the story were mentioned over and over. I wish I had read this for a book club. I want to discuss what others thought about it before everything falls through the cracks.

P.S. The book has some naughty words with a few descriptive sentences thrown in. It has a tendency to make the horror more real. It is not for those who wish to avoid such things.

To Kill a Mockingbird #2 or is it #1?

Dreams Shattered…Laughed, Cried, Lessons Learned, Laughed More… Not To Kill a Mockingbird, but Brilliant in its own way. This book is best read with an open mind, just sit back and enjoy the storytelling and the ride it can take you on. Harper Lee can tell a story like few others can. Is it as good as To Kill a Mockingbird, of course not, but really they are not the same in their publication purposes.

If you have lived under a rock for the past little while then you might not know the controversy surrounding the biggest literary moment in 50ish years that was this book. It is an unedited draft of what eventually became the great To Kill a Mockingbird. While I don’t want to believe the sayings about Harper Lee’s ability to approve the publication of the draft into a novel, part of me can’t deny that it might be true. I have always thought the reason she didn’t publish a second book was because nothing could top To Kill a Mockingbird.  Whether that is the case or not, I don’t understand why Go Set a Watchman would be published in its draft form with little editing.

As I look at some of the reviews of the book, I realize we are all like Scout. We idolized Atticus as a god-like figure (myself included, I just love his character!) Yet, he is still a human who is imperfect and we all reacted just like Jean Louise with our own form of retaliation. Many of us are completely unwilling to be associated with Go Set a Watchman, which (at least to me) proves that Harper Lee really does understand people. At the same time we realized that Harper Lee is also an imperfect person who was slightly pushed off the center of her god-like author status as well.

After reading Go Set a Watchman I am reminded of how important it is to have a good editor and publisher. To Kill a Mockingbird might be the product of Harper Lee, but it took more people to make it truly amazing. I am not sure this novel could have held its own without first being published in its classic version first.

To Kill a Mockingbird was originally titled Atticus. It was about Atticus (and maybe Jem too), where Go Set a Watchman was really more about Jean Louise/Scout. I felt everything she felt and that is what I loved most about the book. That, plus the parts of the book revolving around the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood. Once a To Kill a Mockingbird fan, always a fan.

I did feel like there might be a generational divide and/or a geographical divide with this book. I couldn’t figure out half of what was being talked about at first. It took a little bit longer to get into for that reason. Even with that, I still read the book in about 24 hours.

The most disappointing thing was the lack of Jem. How I miss him. Then again, perhaps it is best to have one character who can retain their honor with nothing tainted. Some characters were just left out completely (such as Boo), but there is a chance they didn’t exist in this first writing before Mockingbird came about. Then there were things that weren’t wrapped up at all. I am sure this time we will really never know what happened.

 

Here is the Best Review I found in Goodreads. It is by someone who seemed to get the point:

Jul 15, 2015 Diane Barnes rated it 3 of 5 stars

 

“First, let me say that this book IN NO WAY affected my opinion of "To Kill A Mockingbird". If anything, it made me love it more. In my mind, it is even more of a masterpiece from having read it's predecessor, or, as Harper Lee herself described it, the parent of Mockingbird. And Harper Lee herself has lost no respect from me.

The characters become even richer from seeing their future selves in Watchman. There are scenes and dialogue here that showed up in her later effort. She fleshed out some chFirst, let me say that this book IN NO WAY affected my opinion of "To Kill A Mockingbird". If anything, it made me love it more. In my mind, it is even more of a masterpiece from having read it's predecessor, or, as Harper Lee herself described it, the parent of Mockingbird. And Harper Lee herself has lost no respect from me.

The characters become even richer from seeing their future selves in Watchman. There are scenes and dialogue here that showed up in her later effort. She fleshed out some characters and limited others.

And forget the hype about Atticus being a racist. He was a product of his times who thought that the South was not ready for complete equality of the races. It was Alabama in 1955, for goodness sake. He joined the Klan and went to a few meetings so he would know whose faces were under the hoods, in order to limit the harm they could do. All the newspaper articles about this book failed to mention that little detail. Atticus is still Atticus, but more of a human being here, less of a saint. Jean Louise has grown up, and like all kids in their 20's, thinks she knows everything. Dill and Jem make appearances via flashbacks, and we see another side of Calpurnia.

We should bow down in reverence to the editor who suggested to Lee that she tell the story from Scout's childhood perspective. It was a brilliant idea, Lee took the advice, and Mockingbird was brought into existence as the book so many of us have loved all our lives. This book, if published then, would never have achieved the fame and importance of Mockingbird.

To finish, I am so glad I read this book. I was apprehensive at first because I didn't want this one to ruin my love for Mockingbird, but as I said in the beginning, it made me love it more. It just goes to prove how much readers invest in literary characters who can sometimes become more real and influential that the people we actually live with.”

Verdict: Guilty or Not Guilty

DEFENDING JACOB                 By: William Landay                 5 Stars (Favorites)

Mind blowing.

The last time I remember feeling this way was about 7 years ago. I had just watched The Prestige with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. By the end of the movie you are given most of the puzzle pieces, but I still had this strong desire to immediately re-watch the movie so I could make those puzzle pieces fit together. Even to this day, whenever I watch that movie I am still trying to figure out those little details. Defending Jacob left me with a similar feeling of wanting to re-read the book and see how everything I learned in the final chapter fit into the rest of the story.

William Landay weaves mystery, science, and relationships all into one incredible legal thriller. From reading a few reviews on this book, I knew there would be a surprise. I have become picky with mystery books. They have to follow the basic rules of a mystery, yet still leave me in awe over the outcome. Mysteries used to be my favorite genre, but lately I have a hard time finding ones where I love the outcome and the details leading up to it.

Since I was looking for an unpredictable ending, I tried to come up with a few different theories. I figured at least one of them would nail the ending. Not that I believe I am amazingly gifted at predicting the ending of books, but that I have read enough of them that few leave me surprised. It doesn’t matter how many theories I had, the ending of the book still resulted in an unpredictable way. In fact, I tried to finish the end right before going to bed, which is not recommended. I had the most difficult time going to sleep as I couldn’t turn my brain off and stop thinking about the ending.

The book provided excellent foreshadowing. It was more to let you know something incredible was going to happen, without giving away the secrets. Landay provides a unique way of presenting the storyline. Andy, an Assistant District Attorney (and Jacob’s father) is on the witness stand being questioned by his replacement, Neil Lojiudice. You start reading a copy of the trial transcript and switch over to Andy’s narrative of the story while he describes the story behind the questioning. Andy tells his story as if he were reminiscing after the trial completion. Without giving away the ending he eludes to things that will happen without actually making it easy to guess what is coming.

To expand on the plot line, as Andy works in the District Attorney’s office he receives most of the cases that come in. He then decides to work them or pass them on to another. Andy knew that the murder of a 14 year-old boy would be a high profile case, so he decides to keep it. Ben was a follow student at Jacob’s school. Soon we find out that Ben had been bullying Jacob, and Jacob purchased a knife for protection. Before long Jacob is arrested and Lojiudice takes over the case when Andy is no longer an impartial lawyer. The story continues with Andy and his wife defending Jacob. Is Jacob actually guilty? If he were, would it matter? Would they fulfill the justice the law demands or protect their son at all costs?

Jacob’s trial brings up the age old question of Nature vs Nurture. When Andy’s unsavory heritage comes into question we are left wondering what to believe in reference to behavioral genetics. Is there such a thing as a murdering gene or is that a just a legal tactic to implicate the defendant?

I can’t give this book enough good praise. It captures you right at the beginning and takes you on a journey that makes you wonder what you believe in the story and even questioning what you believe about yourself and your own behavioral genetics. The story is strong enough you never know who to fully trust and who to be wary of. It is highly unlikely you will be disappointed.

 

REAL JUSTICE Series                                                   3 Stars

FOURTEEN AND SENTENCED TO DEATH: The Story of Steven Truscott        By: Bill Swan

GUILTY OF BEING WEIRD: The Story of Guy Paul Morin                    By: Cynthia J. Faryon

These books are real life stories of the wrongly convicted in Canada. Morin was one of the first to be acquitted based on new DNA evidence, leading to many others acquittals including Truscott.

They are quick reads, yet the fact that they are so short leads to a lower rating for me. There were too many things that were brought up yet never talked, including how they were handled in court, or if they were handled at all.

The only two stories I read (out of 6, you may view them here

) were the result of poorly obtained evidence and a tainted political system. I feel like I need to read other stories of the legal system actually doing the job they were created to do. They were interesting and disturbing all at the same time.

                  

Kid Adventure and a little Math Too

PLEASE BRING BALLOONS                  By; Lindsay Ward                    4.5 Stars

In this cute story a little girl finds a note from a carousel polar bear to bring balloons, which leads to a magical adventure. The storyline becomes even cuter when you find out the author’s parents actually met while painting carousel animals. However, the illustrations far outshine the words. In fact, I wonder if the story would have been even better if it was just illustrations.

I wish I knew the back story to the illustrations. There are numbers, dates, music notes, maps, and incredible colors. I ended up putting more books by the author on hold at the library so I could see how they compare. Check Please Bring Balloons out and see the magic for yourself.

 

BEDTIME MATH 2: This Time It’s Personal                            5 Stars

By: Laura Overdeck    Illustrated By: Jim Paillot

               

Math? At Bedtime?  Whose brains work that well as they are trying to go to sleep? I had to look at the book to see what it was all about. Let’s just say I was impressed.

There are almost 40 different sections to this book. Each section has its own topic, which contains interesting information and sometimes even facts. Then interesting math problems are connected to that topic. Each section has 4 different math problems all broken down into ranges for your children. There are: Wee Ones, Little Kids, Big Kids, and Bonus.

As an example the “Foot in Your Math-or on Your Arm” topic explains how your body parts relate to each other (your foot is the same length as your wrist to elbow). Then the math problems are related to less than/greater than, subtraction, addition, and multiplication. The answers are at the bottom of each page.

The layout is brilliant and the illustrations are unique to each page topic. Best of all, the back has a math equation chart that will help you figure out how to set up the problems if you get stumped. Now there is no reason for summer to affect your kid’s brains. Check out the website here.