As the end of summer approaches, I realize it's been awhile since I reviewed a book on here. I've been doing a little thinking (imagine that) about this blog and have decided that I'm taking an entirely too formal approach. I still want to ramble about the books I've read, but I realize this blog could, and should, be more than that. I believe I will continue on in a way that makes me more comfortable, i.e, not writing what is really just a grade school book report every so often.
Now that that's out of the way, I do want to mention a book I read recently. I finished Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner (2008) at about 1 AM on some odd weekday last month. Certain Girls is the sequel to Weiner's book Good in Bed (2002). It's hard to describe the plot of Certain Girls without giving away a lot of the twists and turns of the book's predecessor. Certain Girls follows Cannie Shapiro, who is living a quiet life with her family and dealing with the challenges such a life provides. Sounds pretty normal, right? It seems a typical enough book with a few "coming of age" elements thrown in--everyone is a little better off and has learned something, etc.etc.etc. However a twist at the end, which comes out of nowhere by the way, had me sobbing on my couch for a good fifteen minutes. I've read some criticisms of the book's ending. Basically critics think that the twist was too abrupt and the author attempted to add some "deeper" elements to her story. I guess looking back I am inclined to agree, but its' been a very long time since I have cried that much over a book.
After I got over the Jennifer Weiner book, I decided to go in a completely different direction by reading a book by a *gasp* male author. The male in question is none other than Stephen King, and the book is simply called Cell. Published in 2006, Cell describes the fate of artist and author Clay Riddell after a cell phone signal,which he dubs the "pulse," sends Boston into a state of chaos. People become crazy, murderous zombies, lose control of their cars, and cause general mayhem. Clay and some of the other survivors of the pulse set out on a quest to survive and find the truth behind these creatures. I enjoyed this book, as will anyone who is fascinated by this sort of thing. The characters are quirky and likable, and the story clips along. King even makes an attempt to add some science fiction elements with various degrees of success.
I have been fascinated with zombie apocalypse-type stories for quite some time now, partly thanks to a film class I took last summer at UWM. To me there's really nothing scarier than the idea of losing control and becoming some sort of hideous walking-corpse creature bent on destroying everything in its path. Well, maybe actually trying to prevent oneself from becoming such a creature would be scarier. I think these stories are so interesting because they seem so fantastical until you think about them. Could some major event, or several very small ones, plunge the world into a dark age of chaos caused by crazy killer-creatures? Would humanity survive such an event? I will leave you to ponder these questions.
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