The Anansi Boys

I knew absolutely nothing about The Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman before I started reading the book. The only thing I could assume at first glance was that the book had something to do with the infamous Anansi- the trickster spider that many people have read about in folk tales as children. I used to read the Anansi stories when I was little in elementary school. Spiders really freak me out, but I always make an exception for Anansi.

I have only been able to read up until the middle of Chapter four, but I've got to say I'm loving this book. I love when authors use a combo of modern themes and supernatural, old world myths and ideas. Fat Charlie, the unfortunate, flawed character, is thrown into a world of gods and folklore. The beginning started off really "ordinary." Just an unfortunate character with an eccentric father. The funeral scene was a great, I was feeling horribly embarrassed for Fat Charlie. I was really surprised to see the first conversation with Mrs. Higgler take a turn towards the bizarre. I would've reacted the same way when some lady started throwing out ideas of Gods and a mysterious brother you've never met!

I'm interested to see what kind of direction the "magic" in this book will take. So far, there's been hints to Anansi being able to heal sick and be incredibly lucky, and the communication between people and spiders. It seems like it'll be more of a nature kind of magic- more old world and less magic tricks and waving wands.

Finishing the Night Circus will have to wait, because I am really enjoying the Anansi Boys!

The Night Circus

I wasn't able to read the Night Circus in time for class Thursday, but this weekend I had the opportunity to read up until the end of Part 1. I'm not sure if I have read far enough to get a really good grasp of the book. It's beautifully written and there are pages of description, but I feel like the actual pacing of the events in the book is slow and confusing. I'm assuming they are time skipping between the events before the creation of the circus and after it's traveled around, but for me it's hard to keep a time frame in mind for the events that occur.

That said, the dark kind of magic that has been introduced in the book is really interesting. While Harry Potter had elements of dark magic, what I have read so far in the Night Circus feels a lot more ominous. I think maybe one of the striking differences so far from what I've read of the first part is the lack of "love". Harry Potter has plenty of dark magic but "love" is what conquers it. In the Night Circus we've got these two children who are instantly pitted against each other- both with a distinct lack of love and affection in their life. Marco is restricted access from the outside world for the majority of his young life and Celia's father crushes her bones and inflicts physical pain in order to train her with magic. Their world seems dark and hopeless- their lives being controlled by puppet masters. It'll be interesting to see how their lives turn out in the next parts. I hope the story gains some consistency as well. It's still to early for me to tell if I'm really into this book yet, but I'll give it the chance and try to get to the next parts this week.

The Hobbit

I've known the story of The Hobbit since I was very little; my brother and I used to watch the animated movie constantly. My brother still watches it when I go back home for break, and the songs are left stuck in my head for days. But aside from watching the movie on repeat- I had never read The Hobbit until now. I was surprised to find all the songs were actually written in the book and they were not just an addition to the animated film. They were a nice touch to the story (and a lot less annoying then the film's chanting verses).

I found the writing style very appealing, and Bilbo to be an extremely charming and witty fellow. He is such a likeable character to me, because he starts out as such an unlikely hero. He's just a simple hobbit, minding his own business and enjoying the daily routines of eating and smoking his pipe. Simple, plain, and ordinary. Of course, we discover how extraordinary Bilbo can be later on. But even through all his adventures, his encounters with dwarves, elves and a fiery deadly dragon- Bilbo is still a hobbit and returns home in the end (although with much more appreciation to adventure). It gives me the sense that no matter who you are, you can be something extraordinary and still staying true to yourself.

Gandalf is another of my favorite characters (but seriously who doesn't like Gandalf?) He's always got this god like quality to him. He seems to know everything and everyone, and always happens to be there just in the nick of time to save the day (but only when he's needed most). What I like and respect about Gandalf as a character is that he disappears from time to time and lets the other characters and Bilbo fend for themselves. He could technically just kick everyone's butt and god mode the whole way through to defeating Smaug- he's got the power to do it: but he doesn't. He lets the other characters learn and grow from their trials.

(Though I go to say, it feels like they rely on those eagles to get them everywhere way too much. But I suppose there wouldn't be much of a story if they just let the eagles fly them everywhere.) I'll end this with one of my favorite comics about the eagle subject:
http://www.dorkly.com/comic/47169/why-gandalf-never-uses-the-giant-eagles
And a great pun:

Aunt Mariah

What an awful woman she was, that Aunt Mariah!

And I can't help but feel a teeny bit guilty saying that- and that's not because I'm under her spell (or at least I hope not!) The way Aunt Mariah would make her demands by not suggesting them was brilliant, but reminded me of my grandmother so much. As soon as we met her, when she talked about "camping out" because of not having the nice silverware out, I felt like I was slapped over the face with how much it reminded me of how my own grandmother would say little things like that! Luckily, my grandmother isn't a wicked lady like Aunt Mariah and as far as I know she hasn't turned anyone into an animal. Either way, I was hooked.

I loved all the characters in this book, and how well defined each of their personalities were- my favorite being Aunt Mariah. A sweet teddy bear and the vicious Queen Bee. I really identified with Mig's personality. She was strong lady and tried her best to please, but had a sharp tongue when she needed to. She was definitely no Ms. Urs.

I enjoyed the way Diana Wynne Jones portrayed the witches in this book. I'm so used to either the ugly, cackling wicked witch or the sexy possessive witch that I was pleasantly surprised to find these awful witches hiding under the rouse of perfect little old ladies. It's such a bizarre take, because the little old lady persona would be the last thing identified as witch like. But I realized along with Mig that further on in the story Aunt Mariah and her friends were just as awful as any wicked witch, even if they pretended to be cute little ladies eating cake all day.

I found the men vs. woman witch theme to be a bit confusing though. What I understand is that the men and woman witches lived by a set of rules and oversaw certain things specific to their genders, and after Anthony Green was buried the town became unbalanced. What I don't really understand though is if it was being implied that all the woman witches were bad?

Aside from that, I thought this was a great book. From some searching around on google, I found out that this book was turned into a play. I'm curious to know how it transitioned into theater, because I wasn't able to find any videos online.

Kwaidan

Unfortunately, I couldn't make last week's class (which was a shame because I absolutely love j-horror) but I did get a chance to read a bunch of the short stories from Kwaidan! I read all of the suggested stories, and a few others.

What I really enjoyed about these stories was that there wasn't always a black and white definition of "good and evil". The character's were usually in a grey area- unlike the usual Western superhero and villain. For example, in one of the stories, the snow maiden with pale skin had promised not to kill the man as long as he never spoke of their encounter. But in the end, even when he did spill the beans she spared his life for a second time because of her love for their children. In Hoichi the musician's story, the ghostly samurai under strict orders might have ripped away Hoichi's ears- but Hoichi healed and became an even greater and more famous musician after!

There was never really any epic showdown between the good and bad guy, which is why I enjoyed these short ghost stories so much. Even though Kwaidan is filled with bizarre and amazing creatures, the personalities themselves are more realistic in my opinion. It also made the plots themselves less predictable.

My favorite story from Kwaidan was Jikininki. I loved the idea of that this creature would come at night to consume the dead of the village and that everyone in town just kind of accepted the fact that the bodies of their dead would disappear in a mysterious way. Having the monster end up being the corrupted soul of an old priest was a great twist.

It's great to be able to read superstitions and folklore from other parts of the world. It really gives an insight to the culture of that era, and its fascinating to me to find the differences and similarities between the folklore of other regions. This has so far been my favorite book in the semester, and I plan on finishing up the rest of the stories when I have the free time.