Post 297: A Blue So Dark

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler.  ISBN: 9780738719269.

Caution: There's going to be a very minor spoiler about a very minor character and Aura's reaction with said character.  If you don't like any kind of spoiler whatsoever... I would like to know why you read book blogs.  So please watch this (not my video), and then leave a comment about it, here or there or wherever instead of continuing to read this post.

Okay, now that those people are gone I can talk about Angela "the Freak" Frieson.  Angela is a pretty minor character, having only two or three scenes in which she makes an "actual" appearance, but Aura likes to throw her in at odd moments because Frieson is (from Aura's viewpoint) obsessed with dissection.  Thiiiiiiis is not so much the case, but Aura is 15 and is overlooking the fact that everyone, even someone as close to her as her best friend, might be have problems they're dealing with.  And so Aura, instead of taking a step back and looking at the problem from someone else's viewpoint, decides to label Frieson as a freak because Aura's problems are more home-centric and probably because teenagers seem to love a pecking order and more specifically love not being at the bottom of it.  It's a very teenage response to things as roles and pecking orders are useful to teenagers in determining where they would like to fit in in life, or life as they perceive it.

Unfortunately, despite all of Aura's growth as a character from the "I'm the only one who has problems" phase to the "okay, other people have problems" growing up stage, she doesn't include Frieson in this growth.  Maybe it's asking too much of a just-turned-16-year-old to apply lessons they learned in one area of their life (i.e. my best friend who is a teenage mother got kicked out of her house and the father left and won't help support the kid) and maybe apply that to another area of her life (i.e. in theory Frieson may be "freaking" out because her parents are redneck trash who have wasted grandma's college fund on beer and Nascar tickets so she has to excel in order to get into Harvard so she can get far, far away and never look back).  Frieson actually seems like a fairly stable and reasonable character if you look at it from a not-Aura standpoint.  Aura has been skipping a lot of school and she and Frieson are lab partners.  So while Frieson has been doing all of the work, she's concerned that Aura is going to drag down her grades or otherwise inhibit her potential to excel.  This. is. understandable.

What is unfortunate is that young people who put that much stress on academic success are still seen as "freaks."  We're all about our young people excelling at sports, even to the point of almost being proud when we learn the star quarterback in high school has had three concussions and is still playing.  Meanwhile the person who wants to be the State Math Champion gets funny looks and a "why the hell would you want to do that?" response.  Everyone has different talents and those talents should be celebrated and encouraged; it is sad that certain abilities get placed higher in society than others.  It is especially saddening to see academic pursuits placed lower than athletics in what is supposedly a learning institution.

So to the Angela Friesons out there, I understand.  You will do great things.  They may not be what you planned, but at least you will never become a dull and boring person, because you have your own minds.  A mind that is developed and honed is something you will cherish in the long run.  You will be able to think yourself into fits of hilarity, moments of profundity, and states of joy.  For all that it is, the mind usually lasts much longer than the body, especially when you don't go ramming it into some 300 pound linebacker on the other team.

My review can be found on Goodreads, and despite my complaints I ended up not hating this book. 
LibsNote: Free copy received from publisher's booth at ALA 2010.

Post 296: A Blue So Dark

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler.  ISBN: 9780738719269.

Sigh.  Let's talk about appropriate use of metaphors and simile shall we?  There is a right and a wrong way of using them.  They are a tool, and like any tool you have to select the right one for the job.  If you keep using a hammer, all you're going to be able to do is hold two pieces of something together with a nail or pry them apart again.  This will only get you so far in building your narrative.  Then again, there are many different kinds of hammers and the correct hammer should be selected.  You wouldn't use a mallet to drive home a point only meant to hang a picture; if you did that you'd end up with a hole in your wall.  Let's hope that wall wasn't load bearing, shall we?

Here is an example of a perhaps not so great selection of hammer,
"Just like it always happens when he's anywhere near me, my eyes are on strings tied to his wrists."  Page 16.
This is not necessarily a wrong choice, but how many of you saw something like this:

Note: picture from Etsy shop

 Yeah... This was not the intended effect.  It was like Schindler using that fix-all hammer when what she really needed was a screwdriver.  We know what she meant, that Aura's gaze was drawn to this other character for some reason, but the whole puppet/eye connection did not come across very well.  This is something that needs a little more clarity if she wants to still make this connection; otherwise, she should really use a different tool and forget the metaphor altogether.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for strange metaphor/simile.  I mean, who can forget my classic post on Packing for Mars in which I liken floating space poop to a friendly brown dolphin (not my fiance, that's for sure)?  But there has to be some follow through.  You can't just drop a metaphor and hope that everyone gets it, sometimes it needs some polish.  And if you were thinking that was another poop reference...you're probably right.  Let's take a look at something else shall we?

"Across the lot, I see Janny, alone, arms across her chest.  And I walk up to her, a smile plastered on my cheeks like a clown's grin." Page 95.  

I was going to use some photoshop here, but honestly I got a little creeped out by all the clown stuff.  Not to mention, I think we all pretty much thought of the same picture.  I understand not wanting to use the same old words to describe putting a fake smile on your face, but replacing a word or two is not exactly the best option here.  Instead of a generic simile, or better yet an actual description of the action Aura is performing, we get a surreal acid trip-like image that doesn't really work and frankly is borderline frightening.  I don't know about you, but I would run away from someone with clown-grin plastered cheeks too.

So I say to all of you writers and writerlings, please rethink your use of metaphors and simile.  Editors, don't allow your authors to use them like salt and pepper when they really ought to be used more as chilies (just enough for flavor, please). Let your author throw tantrums about the oppressiveness of Editing, let them whine about how it's like seeing their children chopped up into little pieces; in the end it's better than producing something like those two previously mentioned phrases on the page to be critiqued by schmucks like me as inadequate usage of the English language.  Hold yourselves and these artists accountable for the quality of their work; don't give a passing grade just because the attempt was good.  If they want to be professionals they should be treated like professionals and not high school students who "did their best."

My review can be found on Goodreads, and despite my complaints I ended up not hating this book. 
LibsNote: Free copy received from publisher's booth at ALA 2010.  Oh, if you enjoy awkward word choice analysis and things of a simile (haha) nature, check out Reasoning With Vampires which goes through the works of Stephenie Meyers page-by-page, that poor, poor soul.