You might realize I haven't been updating this blog with my usual languid-but-steady pace. There are a number of reasons behind that, but it really amounts to a combination of real-life hassles, other writing projects which for various reasons cannot appear on this blog, and one bit of extremely exciting news that's taken up a good bit of my time.
You'll have to wait until the end for that one. Sorry. (Not sorry.)
One thing I have had time for is lots of reading! Public transit is like that. So here are the books I've read recently, in brief.
Words of Radiance (Brandon Sanderson): The second book of Sanderson's epic fantasy saga The Stormlight Archive. Imagine Game of Trones set to the soundtrack of Pacific Rim. Epic in every sense (including its weight), this series is a joy to read and a genuinely optimistic take on a genre that tends toward the cynical, especially recently. It's also refreshingly diverse: almost nobody is white. (Too bad nobody told the cover artist.)
Code Name Verity (Elizabeth Wein): The story of two young British girls, a pilot and a spy, best friends separated in World War II. It's beautifully written and brilliantly constructed, and the relationship between these two young girls - whether you interpret it as romantic or not - might be the most positive, wonderful, and human dynamic I've seen between two characters, ever.
American Born Chinese (Gene Luen Yang): First in my binge on socially-conscious graphic novels, this is the story of a young Chinese immigrant growing up in California in the '80s. Its depiction of cultural isolation, erasure, and racism resonate powerfully with anyone not cut from the White Straight Christian mold, and in simple but effective terms it reminds us that being who we are is not a bad thing. It's actually pretty neat.
The Rithmatist (Brandon Sanderson): Sanderson's YA novel, read because I needed a break from the heavy emotions of Code Name Verity and American Born Chinese. A murder mystery, The Rithmatist suffers from excessive simplicity (even by YA standards) and its failure to find much for the young protagonists to do. Sanderson's clever magic systems, likable characters, and subtle social consciousness make it an worthwhile read, but they're like strong horses pulling a squeaky carriage. Decent, but far from Sanderson's best.
Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi): A graphic novel memoir of the Iranian Revolution from a woman who grew up during it. It's teaches a lot about Iranian history culture, but aside from the delightful Marjane herself, few of the characters receive attention besides a nameplate and an explanation, which makes it hard to connect with any of them. Persepolis is entertaining and a very good history lesson; I'm not sure it works as a story.
Maus (Art Spiegelman): Another graphic novel memoir, this one detailing the author's father's survival of World War II as a Polish Jew. Interspersed with his father's narrative on the Holocaust are scenes in the United States depicting Spiegelman's tense relationship with his father. Maus is...intense. It doesn't editorialize; it simply presents the events as they occurred, and gives us room to empathize with the people experiencing them. Read it. That's all I can say without a lot more space, and time to parse it.
And now, the news! I'm very excited to say I've landed an internship at CBS's Watch! Magazine! Two days in, it's already amazing, and I'm meeting great people and learning a lot.
Cheers,
Simon
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