2 posts tagged “review”

Let me just say, first off, that I'm an aficionado of apocolypse stories. It all began with The Stand the summer before I started high school. Stephen King created a world that was so horrible, so alien, and an antigen-shifting virus that killed 99.4% everyone in the world. It was also a really bad time to come down with a summer cold, because I was sure that I too had Captain Tripps, but, luckily I lived. However, King let us see five chapters of life as we knew it: rock stars indulging in excess, college kids on summer break, military snafus. It isn't until we realize the nature of those snafus that we realize the horror that's about to be visited upon the United States.

McCarthy's book is different. The world to which McCarthy delivers us can only be described as scorched earth. Plants and trees are dead and black; water is thick with ash; the sky is gray and the sun ineffective; snow falls to the earth gray. From the first page, a reader wonders "What happened?!?" and that reader is still wondering on the last page. We never even know if this was a man-made calamity or an environmental problem gone spectacularly wrong, and perhaps it's best that we not know. This book is, above all else, about going on; does it matter if this was a war or a forest fire?

While King's book featured two groups of survivors, one basically good and one basically bad, McCarthy's survivors are harder to classify. His two main protagonists, a father and son, are basically good, even referring to themselves as "The Good Guys." However, McCarthy also portrays characters that are basically good but steal, characters whom we just never know well enough to classify, and characters who are so hideous in behavior that it's difficult to even consider them human. One particular scene, which I will let you discover for yourself, is revolting, and I say that as a person who is not easily sickened. What sets this book apart is the beauty of the writing and the tale-telling, and as sickening as some scenes are, the writing brings them back, over and over, even after I've put the book down.

King's book, written in the late 70s, ends on a positive note. The guys in the white hats win out in the end, and it seems as though the world will find a way to right itself. McCarthy doesn't let us off that easy. The ending of The Road is not completely without hope, but it never gives us that sense of euphoria, that "Yes! They're gonna be okay!" moment that some readers may want. Far from it. In fact, throughout the book, the situation is so bleak that the mere finding of a windfall apple seems like a triumph.

However, in spite of what may seem a real downer subject, this book is inspiring in its simplicity and its goodness. The writing is absolutely delicious. One particular phrase that I have to share describes the relationship between the boy and his father; they are "each the other's world entire." Now that is beautiful.

The hype surrounding the arrival of a new Harry Potter book always put my guard up. Anything so commercially successful, says my inner struggling artist, must be a sell-out, less-than-worthy of my attention (and dollars). But I have to admit that Harry Potter has won me over. Like so many writers and literati, I want to find a reason to dislike J.K. Rowling and her imagi-spawn, Harry, Ron, Hermione, et al.

But I can't. There is something so lifelike and so . . . so damn normal about these characters that I cannot help rooting for them, cannot help wanting to know how their lives turn out, cannot help hoping that Harry would finally get laid or something. Okay, okay, being a young adult's book, I suppose that I'm insinuating my adult taste for the risque into a more innocent narrative. But I digress . . .

Deathly Hallows continues where the sixth book left off, with Harry nearing the end of his protective charms and Voldemort quickly closing in. Advance readers warned of "how to deal with all the deaths in the new book," and, I have to admit, I was a scoffer. How many could there be? Wellll, I was surprised! There really were quite a lot, and some of them were shocking. The first happened quickly and without any kind of forewarning. The unexpectedness of it caught me off guard. From there on, I expected a death at every turn, and, even so, the next major death made me cry. Now, for those of you who don't know me, I can be emotional, but I usually can disengage from a character enough to keep from crying in public. Not this time! There I was, bawling my eyes out in a parking lot while my daughter bought eyeliner, for Pete's sake!

Once again, Rowling's knack for effortlessly weaving in backstory helps immensely, as small forgettable aspects from earlier books were crucial to the plot. One really nice thing in Deathly Hallows is that Harry and company have noticeably aged. No longer are they concerned merely with school and their own affairs; now, with the death of Dumbledore in the sixth book, Harry and his friends are forced to confront the larger issue of "What is Best for the Wizarding World?" as they approach the problems in the seventh book. They even swear, albeit in a mild form.

Overall, Deathly Hallows was a wonderful way to wind up the series. Full of action, emotion, and then more action, Rowling ties up the threads from the previous six books neatly and, seemingly, effortlessly. And frankly, I wonder if this isn't what draws so much of the criticism from those who quickly dismiss Rowling as a commercial success. She makes it look sooooo easy, and we're all jealous. Deep down, we all want to be the next Rowling, and then we won't be bitching about the commercial success.