Air Guitar by Dave Hickey

Air Guitar

by Dave Hickey

10 Words: A challenging read forcing one to think more about art. 

     This book was read as apart of my summer of art project. I have been joining people all over the world in participating in art assignments given to us by a mixture of artists. We are reading this book in order to expand our mind and think about art a bit more fully. The full review has been posted on the blog I have created for that project. It can be found here.  

The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World Comics, By: Robert Jordan, Chuck Dixon & Chase Conley.

The Wheel of Time

The Eye of the World Comics

By: Robert Jordan, Chuck Dixon & Chase Conley

10 words: Epic story meets stunning visuals, worth the read... or re-read. 

Wheel of Time was a large part of my high school years, along with The sword of Truth, (and Harry Potter...). The sad part is that my interest in following the epic long book series (14 books...) ended way before the books came to a conclusion (the last one being released last year).  The last one I read when it was released was new Spring... and I think I only got as wad as the path of Daggers... though I am not completely sure... to be honest I started getting tired and frustrated with the series and started to feel that a lot of words were used to describe nothing happening... 

That was years ago, and I still believe that there was something important being told by the series, as well as something to it that I enjoyed. That was why when the first book came up as a comic apart of the Humble Dynamite 10th Anniversary Bundle I felt like it would be a good use of $15. 

The Comic did not disappoint me. It told the first story of the series very well, showing the events in a beautiful way. At the start I had a bit of trouble telling which boy was which, but I feel that was intentional... we are confused the way the dark one is confused. The looks of the Three Rivers boys are so similar, that its there actions that distinguish each boy from each other. Making them the person they are more than the way they look. 

Book one doesn't explain itself, it doesn't have any problems with tossing you into the confusing world of Andor. It keeps you, the reader as in the dark about the situation the characters are in as the main characters are themselves. This feels right to me, the characters are seeing the world they live in for the first time and we are as well through there eyes. There is no pre-required knowledge to this story and it doesn't attempt to throw that at you in any way. You never feel like you are missing something, or that things are being over explained it has a good balance. The Comics follow this balance, with the added benefit of being able to show you and not having to tell you things. Like the differences between the different towns or grand places they travel to. 

The Wheel of Time is an Epic read, 14 books in total. I have added them to the giant list of things I wish to read (which seems to increase every two weeks or so when new Humble Book Bundles come out...), but its definitely one I suggest at least book one is (I do kinda remember it not keeping its pace well... but we will see how it goes as I read the next book). Also if you feel like reading a story in a different kind of way, this comic does the book justice.  

Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker by Ed Piskor

Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker

by Ed Piskor

10 Words: One mans entertainment is crossing lines that aren't exactly illegal... 

    Wizzywig is a Graphic Novel that follows the life of Keven Phenicle, a really smart kid that goes from hacking phones to phone companies and computers.  Keven is a smart kid who likes to sort out puzzles, this leads to him learning to look at the world in a way that everything is a type of puzzle, and he has the idea that if the actions you are taking benefit more people than it harms that its not bad. This way of seeing the world leads to him selling bootlegged computer games (which accidentally infects computers with a virus he didn't intend to create) and hacking the phone company so that there clocks are inverse (and saving people money for calling during peak hours). He exists at a time where his actions with computers and phones are unexpected, new and no one has a way of defending or expecting the actions he takes. He's not doing anything that is really illegal because no one knows what he is doing... or how.
     This means that the law is not ready for him when he does get caught, and he gets trapped behind everyones angar and expatiations of repayment. He also gets stuck not being able to find a place in the world that will take advantage of the way he thinks or his abilities.
     Was (is ) Keven a real person? Thats what this book had me thinking the whole time I read it. I think (from reading the afterword) that the events and actions he took are based on the feats of a bunch of different hackers combined into one fictional man. Though in a way it feels like they all fit, like the story is very much possible... though I am not impressed with the idea a man could be locked up in prison for 5 years without his trial... thats scary to me. 

     This is an interesting story and a well made graphic novel. If you like graphic novels its definitely a good one to read, especially since this book can currently (June 3 and the next 8 days) be bought in the Pay as You Want section of the current Humble eBook Bundle. If you like reading e-books I suggest you check it out, its a great way of getting books. 

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

By: Katherine Boo

10 Words: Look into life that is so unreal it feel fictional.

     The most important part of this book felt like it was the thank you section at the end. This to me was so extremely important because it make the book real. The events real. When reading the main part of the book itself the whole thing felt like fiction... like it was a story... that life couldn't really be like that... how could anyone value others so little, how can anyone be so envious or willing to walk all over those around them who are in a situation that is no better than their own... 

    This book is a collection of stories of the lives that were being lived by the poorest people in a town that the world believed to be modern, productive and prosperous. The stories are real, they are the stories collected by the author over three years. She has done what I felt was a valid job at showing me, a White Girl from Canada, the lives of those a world away. 

   The stories felt so unreal, they show strength and creativity. They show kids forced into doing whatever work they can just so that there families can sustain themselves. The stories show the internal struggle over attempting to do what one believes to be the right thing - (such and not becoming a thief) - when the world rewards those who do it. The stories make you appreciate a world where you can trust in those outside, that you can trust the police to do what they are expected, and the biggest problem you have is that you are making minimum wage at a crappy service job... while attending University.

P.S
     So I have a few more thoughts based on what John Green says to keep in mind in his vlog last friday, He talks about luck and how we don't really attribute it to situations but I don't really agree with the weight he is giving luck. I don't like luck, I believe that a single person has a lot more control over the outcome of a situation than the idea of Luck allows for.  Its not Lucky when a publisher likes your book, the publisher likes a book because they have learnt how to read and recognize a well written work as well as understanding what the potential customer base for that peace is and they understand that if they published it they are likely to make money from it. This isn't luck, there might be some luck in the first book but that's not the case for this book (or a book written by John Green which he might be referring too because he is being humble).
     I don't think that luck is really apart of this book, or the lives of these people. They all make choices, take actions that affect themselves and their community.  It wasn't bad luck that got Adul and his father in trouble, it was the actions of his Father, His Sister, Fatima and him that got him there... along with a corrupt justice system...
     The Idea of Luck bothers me, One's actions creates a situation, they can then respond to that situation to the best of their ability or not. The results is not Lucky... the result just is.

     

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

10 Words: Traditional Man, cannot accept change, longs for good old days.

     This story follows through the life of a man who works hard for himself, his family and his people. Then one day an accident happens and everything he has worked for gets turned upside down. He is forced to spend seven years in Exile (his wife and children along with him). The year ends with Missionaries starting to gain a foothold in both his tribe and the one his mother came from. 

    The way it is written to me is apart of the simplified way that the people live in this world. They value the basic parts of life; having enough food to feed one's family, having a safe place for your family to live. The story is told with these simple facts in mind and it makes those simple parts of life feel like the greatest ideals one could live up to. 

     When things are changing he reacts against them. He believes in the traditions and the ways that have always been what he has lived for and seen as the strength of the tribe and his people. He does not understand the white people, their ways, nor does he feel that there is anything to gain by learning these things. As such when his son joins them he feels greatly betrayed by that action. 

     Its his strict belief in the old ways of doing things that leads him to attack the members of the church. When none of the tribe follow his lead though he is forced to accept that the tribe has changed even though he hasn't. He continues along the path that he sees as the strong, correct force for a man of the tribe to act when faced by an invader, though in the end he is forced to face the change and changes himself by committing suicide instead of facing the law - and pour treatment - of the white men.  

(Read as apart of Crash Course Literature, part 2 )

The Septimus Heap Series By Angie Sage

The Septimus Heap Series

Magyk, Flyte, Physik, Queste, Syren, Darke, Fyre  

By Angie Sage

10 words:

Overall: Magical adventure series, with fun cast, understandable rules and dragons.

Magyk: A grand adventure as the young transform into something more. 

Flyte: Septimus and Jenna learn their new places in the castle.

Physik: That which is know as taboo, is questioned and explored.

Queste: Even the best of intentions can get lost over time.

Syren: Sometimes its just better to tell what you are doing.

Darke: Getting the result desired from actions may not be best. 

Fyre: Thrilling end, Uninformed Actions Caused problems in Past and Present.

     This was a fun Young Adult series about a bunch of different kids growing into there places in the world. They were also also finding their place within their families and learning the way their places change as they grow up and start to create their own path for their life. 

     The first book reminds me of Harry Potter, the two main characters get brought into an adventure which forces them to face who they are and who they can potentially become. The following books follow them both as they continue to learn about themselves, their world, and who they will eventually be as they grow into adults who are a productive part of their home. 

     The seven books are a very fun mixture of fantasy, fighting vague evile who in some ways is evil for the pure sake of being evil. Some of the antagonists have a reason, but many of these are young adults themselves and their reasons are the same petty reason a bully would be a bully... these bullies just have Darke Magyk that they do not understand to help them be bullies. The few who are truly greater do not feel to have a real reason that drives them, the only reasons being a mix of wanting the Power to Control what happens in the Castle town and the fact that they can. 

     Overall it was a fun series and I was happy to see that there were more stories after reading the first (and wikipedia tells me that a new series will be coming in August that is in the world but seen from a new location and new eyes). I enjoyed this story and I do think many others would enjoy it as well. 

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonngut

Slaughterhouse Five

by Kurt Vonnegut

10 words: Sideways exploration during, before, and after the firebombing of Dresden.

     Slaughterhouse Five is the story of a Billy Pilgrim, a man who was an american soldier in WWII, though he wasn't a very good one at that. He claims that he was abducted  by aliens and that they taught him about the way that Time can work in the nonlinear fasshon. This has caused him to be unstuck in time and as such the story follows him through different points in his life jumping between moments in a nonlinear way. 

     This story is neet. Billy is a very simple person, with a very good live but not very interesting. To his children he has completely lost his mind when he starts telling the world about Time and the Aliens. Yet to him he is telling them the complete truth. You can't really tell if he is just a crazy old man. Or if what happened to him Actually happened. All you know is that HE believes it, and his Daughter doesn't.

     I also liked the way that Billy's wife is displayed. It is never actually stated that she is large and overweight. But whenever she is mentioned what is described is the food she is eating. The candy bars in her hands, or the wrappers. This gives me the feeling that Billy doesn't see her weight as a problem, its just a normal fact about the way she acts. 

     The way the story is told, through the different jumps through time leads to my uncertainty of weather or not billy was truly abducted by aliens or not. The way we as a reader is unstuck in time throughout reading about his life makes you wonder if Billy is actually living his life that way, and not just us. It also makes me wonder what that would be like. I kinda don't think Billy is crazy enough for it to really be happening to him. You would never know any context about what happened "yesterday" to the moment you are in. I would be forever writing things in my schedule and continually looking at the calendar because i wouldn't know what I needed to do when... ever! 

(This was read as apart of following along with Crashcourse Literature... I am just not reading them in the same order it seems... and I am skipping a few because I can't follow the Odyssey very well and I am over Hamlet... )