The Great Gatsby Goes to Movies

Manic Monday:  Having Babies, Reliability, and The Great Gatsby

 



Today, my family and I celebrate my son's 15th birthday. He is my firstborn,and I can tell you for sure that I was freaking out right about this time 15 years ago.

I can't tell you the whole chronology of events, and if I tried, I would have to go back and tell you things as I rememeber them, but not necessarily in order. The only thing I can say for sure is that I was freaking out! I was like "What the heck did I get myself into?" Everything else is a blur. Period.

I could tell you about the whole event and finish saying all I remember, and even then I would forget something and have to go back and tell you about it.  Talk about an unreliable narrator! Which brings to mind Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby.

I was discussing this novel with my students today and trying to help them see and understand the novel as an example of early 20th century modernism. Well, one of the defining elements of modernism is a rearrangement of time and plotting to the point that events are a bit confusining and somewhat vague to readers.  For what purpose?  To recount a story as a first person narrator really would, with a mixed up sense of timing and a reliance on flashback.

I can't even completely and fully tell you anything about any of my own true stories, and if I do tell you anything then it is colored by my experiences and views. Just like Nick. He wants to tell us the story, but he is involved in the story, and he is not telling it to us as it happened either. Deep stuff here!

Which all goes connected to this...the "The Great Gatsby" on the big screen! May 10th! My students are ready, I'm ready, and you too can be ready! Watch the trailer! And, if you havent' read it, well, the plot is not a happy one, but novel is considered an American classic (or should we say an American tragedy?) by many readers. And, like other book-to-movie adaptations, you don't have to actually read it to enjoy all the movie magic of the 21st century.  21st Century Technology for a 20th century text.  Now there is another topic.

City of Bones New Trailer

Totally YA Tuesday

So, this trailer has to be on practically every YA blog out there today, no?  I'm talking about Trailer #2 for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.  But, I had to post.

If you've never read this book, then you haven't read as much YA as you think.  Premise of novel is spectacular, as is Trailer #1 and Trailer #2.  I love tough, weapon-wielding angels!

Summary for Movie by Sony:

"Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray (Lily Collins), discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother (Lena Headey), Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Based on the worldwide best-selling book series."

          

And just in case...here is the book summary in my own words:

Shadowhunters and Clary Use Ferocious Fighting Swag Against Downworld Villians.


Here is a longer version from Shadowhunters.com:

"When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary. Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know..."

The Fault in Our Stars is Always Best

Have any of you heard of The Children's Choice Book Awards, "the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by children and teens of all ages"? 

I got a voting link to this on my email about 2 weeks ago.  Check it out!  I was even able to add the voting widget here to save you all some time and encourage you to vote on the spot. 

Voting opened on the 19th of March and it seems to still be available.  As soon as I post this, I am voting right here and right now, and from the choices provided, I have to say my vote goes to...

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Why?  Well, I am in love with the authentic YA voice, and that coupled with some of the best writing YA has to offer, ala the greatness of all that is John Green, is what brilliant contemporary YA is all about.  It's YA with heartbreak, with happy and tragic, with awful and beautiful.  Not to mention, the obvious allusion to so many things Shakespeare, in particular to "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/But in ourselves" from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. 

How funny that in my last post I made reference to this same Shakespearean tragedy, and here I am referencing it again.  We English teachers just can not get away from Shakespeare. I mean, I got this allusion on the first glimpse of the title way back when it came out about a year ago or more.  But you know, the title and all its implications, though, bring to mind another Shakespearean tragedy instead.  You know, the one about star crossed lovers...  I guess it's in the word stars.

I feel sad already :(

I know many, many of you have already read this novel, so I feel like I am too many months late for a review, but here is a brief summary from Goodreads.  And, if you haven't read it, then you are missing out.  It's like me asking "And you, Reader?" (Just like "Et tu, Brute?" from Julius Caesar, meaning, that you are betraying the YA genre by not having read The Fault in Our Stars.)

"Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind."
NOW VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE!

In the Shadow of the Lions, I Will Not Fear

Friends,Writers,Blogosphere, lend me your ears;

 

I come to renew my blog, and shamelessly praise it.
 

The evil I do (by not posting) will not live with me;

 

And the good I now do (by posting)will not be buried.

 

(adapted from Mark Antony's eulogy in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar)

 

 

 

So, that last line above, well, I couldn't make it fit very well with the original Shakespearean wording. But, I think I did a fairly good job at telling you all that I still love my blog and readers, and because of this, I feel bad about not posting in such a long time.

It seems that I keep making vows to myself to keep blogging on a regular basis (just as I do with dieting and exercise and writing and the list goes on). Well, here I am making the vow again, and this time I will stick to it. So, Welcome Back!

Here is my Thursday Trailer feature for In the Shadow of the Lion by Kimberly M. Jane:

"Fifteen-year-old Kathleen Gallant is on an archaeological adventure at Tsavo East National Park in Kenya when she unearths the grave of an ancient woman known as Njeri. The natives are horrified by this discovery; Njeri is so infamous that no local will even speak her name. They fear the discovery of Njeri's corpse will bring about pestilence and disease upon their tribe. The legend of Njeri goes back to the mystical Mchanga and Misitu War. This war was fought long ago, and historians are still unsure of how it ended. It seems the soldiers from this war apparently disappeared. Now news of local villagers either gone missing and even some found dead are worrying her friends, but Kathleen feels strangely drawn to the story of Njeri; she begins to have nightmares and visions of a past life and a battle of wills. Someone is taking over Kathleen's young mind-someone who wants revenge. With the help of her new friends Sekani and Okechuku, Kathleen discovers the ancient war never really ended. Under the influence of Njeri, she learns more about the past than she ever expected to-and realizes she may become the weapon through which Njeri exacts her revenge."

 

-summary from back cover

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I am so intrigued with this novel!  And, the music is so eerie and spookie that I almost got goosebumps just thinking about what this girl did with her demon-possessed, soulless black eyes and ancient, rusty dagger.  A definate must read just from the premise!  Also, to be honest, it reminds me of my own unpublished novel--the one where my main character, 17 year old Alex de Luna, merges with the spirit of 16th century Aztec girl.  But, Alex's eyes don't turn black, and she doesn't get all "hood" crazy either.

Chapter 1, "The Guardians," (love this title, by the way) starts off with the near mauling of a boy by a sneering hyena.  Apparently, the lions of the book title are not the ones to be feared in this chapter. 

Now, I seriously need to go read it!  The writing is really, really good from the beginning, and this is one way that I judge the quality of a novel and whether I want to keep reading it.  Works everytime.

By the way, the trailer gets 5 Stars and the cover art gets 5 Stars...these are bonus factors to me.

Frozen...in a Historical Drama

Being that this is the first week of October and the official start of the fall season, don't you just feel like wrapping yourself up with a cozy Snuggie, a mug of cocoa, and a can't-put-down-until-3AM YA book? I suppose in my part of the world, I can just turn down the AC thermostat to below 70 and sit right in front of the air vent. We are still in the 90's down here, folks.

But, actual fall weather or not, Frozen by Mary Casanova is a great book to wrap around your hands during the midnight reading zone. Let me throw some words out there...1920's, Rainy Lake,a mysterious death, a snowbank, a historical drama, a lost voice, buried memories, corruption, secrets, a lost identity, a love story. If this is not enough to make you want to get your hands on Frozen like tonight, then I don't know what you want to read. Please don't tell me you want some dark, poorly written book, that follows all the conventions of poorly written books such as undeveloped characters, superficial writing, and overdone plot elements. Please tell me you want smart historical YA by a notable writer!


Summary (from the author's website):

Sixteen-year-old Sadie Rose hasn’t said a word in eleven years—ever since the day she was found lying in a snowbank during a howling storm. Like her voice, her memories of her mother and what happened that night were frozen. Set during the roaring 1920s in the beautiful, wild area on Rainy Lake where Minnesota meets Canada, Frozen tells the intriguing story of Sadie Rose, whose mother died under strange circumstances the same night that Sadie Rose was found, unable to speak, in a snowbank. Sadie Rose doesn’t know her last name and has only fleeting memories of her mother—and the conflicting knowledge that her mother had worked in a brothel. Taken in as a foster child by a corrupt senator, Sadie Rose spends every summer along the shores of Rainy Lake, where her silence is both a prison and a sanctuary.

One day, Sadie Rose stumbles on a half-dozen faded, scandalous photographs—pictures, she realizes, of her mother. They release a flood of puzzling memories, and these wisps of the past send her at last into the heart of her own life’s great mystery: who was her mother, and how did she die? Why did her mother work in a brothel—did she have a choice? What really happened that night when a five-year-old girl was found shivering in a snowbank, her voice and identity abruptly shattered?