Guardian of the Dead: the first book I've read with an important asexual character

b Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey: You know, mythology is so R-rated.  I forget that sometimes because the United States' national myths are kind of weak in the violence and weirdness department.  (Not that I mind.)  This book is set around a boarding school in urban-ish New Zealand.  Ellie is 17, a bit overweight, and apathetic.  Her best friend Kevin has just told her that he's asexual, and she has an increasing crush on Mark, the school's dark and odd mystery boy.  Then there are these murders and this extremely creepy woman and the fact that Ellie starts seeing things no one else seems to see.

Those things are out of this world.  I like reading books that involve myths (real or fictional, as in the Queen's Thief books by Megan Whalen Turner).  These kinds of stories peoples tell about themselves are a fascinating way to learn about other cultures.  There is the added interest here in that the mythology is from the aboriginal culture, and Ellie in particular is from the culture that conquered the old one.  I am coming at it from a totally different culture, but it's a conquering culture as well, so there is an echo for me of the richness of the native cultures that were over-run when mine took over.

Mostly, this is just a weird fantasy adventure.  I found out about it in the comment thread of a publisher's weekly post about the need for diversity in YA literature.  (I wrote 5 responses to it, starting here.)  I was surprised there were any books that featured important asexual characters.  That this one's asexuality was actually central to part of the plot impressed me.  At first it just seemed like a clumsy attempt to tack on an unusual sexual orientation, but then it was necessary, and I was more impressed.  And then kind of taken aback by the mythology, which was, well, as dark as some of the really dark European stuff and way more explicitly sexual.  Definitely an interesting read with some real tragedy mixed in.

Discussion not fighting

"The cable-news model is that you want to create a fight," she says. "Because people will yell! And there will be exclamation points and things will be in ALL CAPS and people will watch! Having been the left-wing person booked to fight with the right-wing person in that Punch and Judy show, I'm not interested in re-creating that. If I've booked you, I feel like you've got something worth listening to. With conservative guests, that means you can't just be a random hack who's here to fight with me because I am who I am. You've got to bring something to it where even without sparks flying and even with it being civil, you're going to illuminate something that I can't." - Rachel Maddows

Thinking with Fire

I adored Graceling (along with a lot of other people including critics), but I have to say I was afraid that the next book would be too similar, so I held off buying and reading it.  Unfortunate repetition happens to a lot of YA authors.  In Fire's favor was the fact that it was not a sequel, always a good sign.  Also in its favor was the fact that it took place in the same world as Graceling but in another part of it where the rules were different.  (Echoes of Tamora  Pierce, hooray!)  I found the world fascinating and was all for more exploration of it.

In Fire, the situation the heroine was in was sort of vaguely similar, and it was destined to be a romance from the beginning, so there was a certain amount of predictability there, but there was also a lot of court intrigue and reversals and hard decisions and bad things happening to lots of people and misunderstandings and nuanced characters and other bits to keep one reading and guessing.  I enjoyed Fire. 

I must admit that, at first, while I was reading it, I wondered if it sold very well.  Lots of people are sort of Method Readers: they have to find something they can identify with in the main character to keep them reading.  I wonder how many teenaged girls struggle with being so effortlessly, ridiculously beautiful that they literally have to fight off men attracted to them.  The answer is probably not many.  So what would make this book appealing and relevant to them?

I actually found my answer in the responses of those around this main character.  Many wanted her dead because she was by her very nature a temptress (even though she didn't consciously use her powers, especially not for evil) who caused strife, and they were afraid of her potential if she chose to be evil.  They were scared of their weakness and her power over them, so they hated her and tried to confine her or even kill her. 

I found myself remembering that in many places in our real, modern world, women are forced to cover themselves completely and hide away because the men around them believe that their existence and visibility leads men to sin.  Of course, the men can't be expected to control themselves; that would be too hard, so let's blame the women.  It's their nature to tempt men to sin simply by existing, right?  The way the story raised and handled these issues was great.  There wasn't any preaching; no one made speeches they wouldn't have made if they really existed, and I still walked away thoughtful.

I like the conclusions Fire comes to by the end of the novel.  I really do.  She wrestles with her demons and her nature, and she comes to a peace with them.  If only other women in captivity to the weak men around them could have such a hard-fought, hard-won happy ending.  If only all teen girls could successfully fight their way to peace with themselves about their bodies and their responsibility to the people around them.  I hope some of them can.  Maybe reading this book will make them think about it. If not, it's still a great read full of adventure and romance and sacrifice and redemption and good and evil and other things that make a story worth hearing.  I'm looking forward to Cashore's next book.  It's coming out . . . soon, I hope.

Are you more of a "Method Reader" or a total omnivore (omnibibliovore)?

Pilgrims? Bad neighbors?

So a radio station in our area is really pushing a pilgrimage to the Holy Land right now, and my immediate reaction was something along the lines of, "The economy is in the tank, lots of our brothers and sisters are struggling, and you want to take an expensive vacation because it's somehow good for your faith to be a tourist and waste money you could be giving to help those who need it?"

Possibly a little harsh.  Maybe not.  I don't know.  There's evidence in the value of pilgrimage.  Lots of stories come from that tradition.  What are your thoughts about pilgrimage?

Reading Tokyo Vice

And now for something completely different.  Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

I'm reading Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein.  If you're interested in Japan or investigative journalism or organized crime or those who fight it, you might want to check this one out.  Adelstein is an American journalist who spent years in Japan reporting on crime.  Needless to say, in an insular place like Japan, this opportunity is kind of rare. 

The prelude section starts out with the yakuza threatening the author's life.  I'm particularly proud of the fact that I realized this particular organization is the one based out of the capital city of the prefecture my sister taught English in while she was living in Japan.  She didn't recommend visiting that area when we went to see her.  (She didn't want us to become statistics, and there were plenty of other wonderful places to visit that weren't infested with yakuza.)

Knowing that the author survives gives the book its own kind of tension.  Does he pursue this story mentioned in the prelude?  How does he not get killed?  What led him there?  What led him to later combat human trafficking? 

I've been interested in the topic of the justice system and the Japanese underworld pretty much since I read my first manga touching on it maybe six years ago.  I am intrigued by the lens Adelstein provides the opportunity to look through, and I'm looking forward to the insights into culture, justice systems, and humanity I gain through the book.  I just hope it doesn't get too gritty . . .


Do you know of any good nonfiction books about aspects of Japanese culture?  Do recommend.

Why the bad guys should win

I was watching a show recently where an antagonist challenged the protagonists by explaining to them why they would never win.  He said that since he was a child, he never got into superheroes or hero shows because they seemed so fake.  The good guys would always win just because they were the good guys when any logical person could see that the bad guys should have won.  The bad guys, he said, can do anything while the good guys are constrained by morality and such.  The bad guys should have won because they bad guys can do whatever they want.

I've had that cynical thought myself.  Maybe it's the time and culture we live in, but it's often difficult to look around and see evil triumphing all over the place because it has no scruples and still believe in the simple hero triumphing because of his or her virtue.

Have you ever struggled with this strain of cynicism?  What are your thoughts about it now?  When you read stories that contain conflicts set in the current world, do you need this imbalance acknowledged, or can you get into the spirit of good triumphing over evil even if it doesn't make sense?

Japanese baseball and other curiosities

I should so be in bed right now.  It is criminal to make a single baseball game last that long.  I loved every overly-analytical, hyper-dramatic minute of it, but it really messed with my plan to be in bed by 10.

If you are ever in Japan, you should go see a professional baseball game.  In fact, it doesn't have to be a professional game.  It could be a regular high school game.  It's one of the best ways to realize how very different Japanese and American cultures are. 

It's the same game, right?  Except that it's really not.  What they play on the field is mostly the same, except for the bowing and a few other things that may have changed since I was obsessed with the sport too long ago.  (Dude, if you're tagged by the catcher before you touch the plate, it doesn't matter if you knock him over as long as he holds onto the ball, right?) 

What you should be watching is the stands.  If you are at a game with an audience and a cheering team, they are the people you want to have a good view of.  It's kind of unbelievable.

I was reminded of this experience (my dad and I visited my sister in Japan this April, and we were lucky enough to get great seats at a game in a new stadium) as I was watching this Japanese baseball show.  Even in high school, they take their cheering very seriously.  If you want to be in the official cheer squad, there are uniforms, protocols, hierarchies, cheering routines, songs, and all sorts of things you must know, remember, and perform.  I swear they must practice as much as the baseball teams themselves. 

It's bizarre, ridiculous, and utterly compelling.  I cannot describe to you how seriously they take it, and nothing can replace the experience of being there while it happens.  Especially during the seventh inning stretch and that thing they do with the balloons.  Words fail me.  Seriously.  (Actually, if I try to describe it, I will laugh too hard to finish, and I will need my inhaler, which is bad before bed.)

If you want to get a glimpse of this and aren't afraid of Japanese animated TV shows, check out the second part of season one of a newer show called Big Windup! Oofuri in the U.S.  What you'll see there is pretty tame (it's the first round of a high school tournament), but as you watch the game unfold, pay close attention and notice that you almost always hear music in the background this entire, rain-soaked game.  (Did I mention it's only the first round of the tournament?)

You really have to experience it some time.  Please.  Then you can try to write about the balloon thing, if you dare.


If you've been to Japan or another country and been astounded by how differently they do something (rock concerts are another interesting experience) than the way we do the "same thing" in the United States, do share.  What activities that you expected to be familiar caused massive culture shock instead?