The Folk of the Fringe

The Folk of the Fringe
Orson Scott Card
Copyright: 1989
Tom Doherty Associates

3 Bookmarks out of 5

I originally picked up this book from Ukazoo - a used bookstore near my undergraduate alma mater. There are four locations nationally, and I encourage you to check them out if you live near one of them! Anyway, I became an Orson Scott Card fan sometime last year when I finally broke down and read the entirety of the Ender Saga. In fact, I reviewed the most recent book in that saga not too long ago - it's called Shadows in Flight. I wanted to read some more Card's works, but I wasn't interested in getting involved with a series. So The Folk of the Fringe seemed like a one-stop shop and the price wasn't bad either ($3.99? Pretty much what it would cost to buy it online when you include the shipping and handling). What I didn't know at the time is that this book is actually a collection five short stories that have intertwining characters.

The first story, "West," was by far my most favorite story. It details the story of a group of Mormons attempting to make it to Utah in a future America that has been bombed (presumably) by the Soviets. This story-line intrigued me and I wanted the entire book to be their story. I felt like Card spent too little time detailing their grueling trek to Utah - on foot, I might add. But then again, this story was one about characters. And while it felt like Card was bashing groups who were not Mormon, the characters were compelling and left me wanting more.

The next story is "Salvage." Taking place near the now-submerged Salt Lake City, it details the story of a boy from "West" in his quest to find a sunken Mormon treasure. Out of the five stories, this one was the most forgettable. Its purpose seems only to serve as an introduction of Deague Teaver as the character of "Pageant Wagon" and to detail how important the temple is to the Church of Latter Day Saints.

The third story is - in my humble opinion - the best of all three. It's entitled "The Fringe" and details the character of Carpenter - a teacher who has cerebral palsy. Carpenter figures out that the folk in this particular town are stealing crops and selling them on the black market for high prices. The students in his class who benefit from this black market scheme become very angry and attempt to get retribution for the perceived wrong on their families. Carpenter is an amazing character and one I appreciated very much. It's not every day that an author has the courage to have the main character of a story be disabled and even then only reveal it one detail at a time.

The fourth story is "Pageant Wagon" and it is a novella in itself. Deaver Teague from "Salvage" is the main character here and the story follows his quest to feel a part of a community by his experience with a traveling family of actors/actresses. This could have been published separately and Card fans would have been thrilled. But as it may, I felt that in this story Card once again shows his misogynistic traits in portraying women as a group that needs to be protected by the men and, then again, showing women as the sole temptation of men.

The last story is "America" and was probably my second favorite in this series of five stories. It follows a Mormon teenager in the jungles of Brazil, dealing with the temptation of the flesh. Card seems to rarely touch on the theme of sex in his stories - and I have yet to see Card come right out and portray sex as something pleasurable. Usually he describes it in a purely biological fashion. (But I should note that I'm just beginning my exploration of Card as an author). However, I found this story refreshing in its raw power to portray the lust-fulness of youth and the conflicting emotions a religious youth can feel over it.

Overall, though, this book seems directed towards Mormons. Most of the character interactions deal with those who are of the Church of Latter Day Saints. I don't think it's a mistake, either, that Card details Utah as the only place in post-bombing America that is safe and that it is ruled by Mormons. But, more than that, I felt like some stories could have been shorter and others I would have loved to see elaborated upon. The author's note at the end will thrill Card fans and I think that Card's amazing ability as an author is a rallying point for the LDS - which can be seen as a culture that differs greatly from mainstream society.

Midnight Magic

Midnight Magic
By: Avi
Copyright: 1999
Scholastic, Inc.

3 Bookmarks out of 5

I should point out to my readers that this book is a children's/young adult book. It would probably appeal mostly to children from 10 to 14 years old. But, Avi is one of my favorite authors from childhood and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to re-live my childhood because I've been reading some pretty heavy books recently, such as Gulag: A History and The History of God. I'm pretty sure that this book ended up in my household from my next door neighbor. She probably lent it over to our house because she enjoyed it. And since my neighbor is not much of a reader, I finally got around to listening to her recommendation ten years after the fact. If she recommends a book, it's generally worth my time to read it.

The best thing about this book in particular is the plot. This book is primarily a mystery and secondarily a historical novel. I usually try to avoid the mystery genre because the suspense usually causes me to skim through it very quickly and miss all the details of the story because I want to know the ending. I purposefully slowed myself down this time around and tried to genuinely enjoy the plot progression. I have to admit, I thought I had the plot figured out about halfway through - but Avi gives the reader a nice twist that even I couldn't figure out. Although, I suppose if you frequently read mysteries you may be better at catching the end before I did. By slowing down through this book, I was able to enjoy the historical facts that riddled the story. As a teacher by training, this would have been a great book to use in the classroom. It opens up history in a fun fashion - although it did contain one factual error. People in 1491 more than likely did know that the world was round, but Avi has his own characters believing otherwise.

One other fact about this book that would have been fun to discuss as a teacher with students would be all the witty sayings that Fabrizio and his master Magnus throw about through the book. Even I had to sit back and think about them for a moment or two, even though I consider myself to be a pretty quick-thinker. Avi could have slimed down with the amount of sayings, though. Frabizio seems to throw them about a lot and it makes the reader wonder how Frabizio learned all this. Does Fabrizio know, himself, how to read? If so, then why does Magnus seem to think of Frabizio as a naive boy? Some of the characterization didn't seem to make much sense.

Which leads me to the point that particularly bothered me about this book - the characters seemed so flat and boring. Being a fan of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, I know that Avi is capable of writing dynamic characters and characters that are full of life. Fabrizio is a servant boy whose only aspiration in life is to serve his master. While I enjoy the fact that Avi chose to keep Fabrizio a simple boy and not use a cliche of having servants rise up to be princes or something or other - Fabrizio just doesn't have a lot of depth to make the character believable. Not to mention that as an author of children's books, it would be nice to have a main character that aspires to be something.

Overall, this book contains a great plot that I think readers of all ages could enjoy. But the story falls apart with characters that seem too safe and too flat for the reader to fall in love with. I enjoyed the fact that Avi spent time explaining small details of life in late-fifteenth century Europe - such as castles and kings. But it would have been nice for Avi to touch on the blossoming of the Renaissance at this point in history as opposed to superstitious belief in magic. This would be a great story to read to young children around Halloween - as I did read in one review of Midnight Magic.

A History of God

A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Karen Armstrong
Copyright: 1993
Gramercy Books

3 Bookmarks out of 5

This was another one of those books that ended up on my bookshelf because every year for Christmas my mom plays a little game when buying me presents called: 'Buy Every Book on the Bargain Shelf.' I'm not complaining - I love a good bargain book because I'm convinced that every book has some form of value and the joy of literacy should not be hogged by only those who can afford to read. Nevertheless, I finally got around to reading it in an effort to make sure my mind stays sharp. I was accepted into my grad program through University of Maryland in Library Science, and since I took a year off before grad school I want to make sure that my critical reading skills stay strong. This book was a good test of my patience and ability to understand minute differences in philosophy and theology. I went into this book expecting a history of God - what I came out with was a theological and philosophical understanding of how God has changed over time.

I should begin by saying that the reviews over the cover boast about how Armstrong has the ability to "simplify complex ideas" (New York Times Book Review) and how "she can take a long and complex subject and reduce it to its fundamentals" (Sunday Times - London). I expected a complex discussion of how to concept of God has changed throughout history. However, I found myself re-reading many passages of the book in order to grasp what was being explained. Normally I can read laying down without any interruption of understanding, but with this book I found myself needing to sit completely upright and in a completely silent place. This book is not intended for a reader who is beginning the study of theology. The long passages make finding a stopping point difficult and the long chapters make for an arduous struggle to understand the amount of information being written about.

The book could have been more understandable with more historical background of different time periods. Since the title boasts of a 'history' - I expected Armstrong to explain how events in history impacted the human understanding of God. In some places, Armstrong does this with amazing ability. However, in other parts she spends a long time explaining what different philosophers and thinkers came up with in regards to the theory of God and the reader can be lost in the semantic game that many early leaders of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam came up against. These painstaking details are what aids to the wealth of knowledge that is contained in the book and what becomes frustrating for the reader to comprehend.

Armstrong's Western bias comes in to play in the book. As a child of the West, it is hard for Armstrong to break her cultural heritage when examining religious history. In my opinion, Armstrong could have spent more time on the subject of Judaism and Islam after their initial conception and the mysticism phase. Once she hits the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, Armstrong spends nearly all her time explaining the development of God in a strictly Christian sense. I've read some other reviews and I would agree with the fact that Armstrong does seem a bit harsh on Christianity. It's a shame that the book was written before the rise of religious fundamentalism in world politics. Additional printings of this book would benefit from an afterword with Armstrong explaining how the concept of God is continuing to evolve.

All in all, I A History of God is a book that is bountiful in information. The reader should be warned that some background of each religion will make this read go by much easier than by choosing this as their first book of religious study. I found myself struggling to keep different names right when Armstrong discussed the chronology of different thinkers. The book loses points, in my opinion, from its lack of user-friendliness. While the concepts labeled under each chapter make sense, the editor of the book could have made use of page breaks for readers to take a breather while traveling through 4,000 years of history. Armstrong could have been more inclusive of other Godly religions - but the book only focuses on the Abrahamic faiths and maybe the title could have reflected more of that as well.

Gulag: A History

Gulag: A History
Anne Applebaum
Copyright: 2003
Anchor Books

5 Bookmarks out of 5

So, I know that I've been MIA for awhile. I decided to undertake this particular book a month ago, thinking it would take me about two weeks to read. It is 586 pages long with SUPER tiny print. I bought this book close to five years ago, so I finally decided it was time to finish it all the way through. I remember being super interested in this period of Soviet history back when I bought it, and I'm glad that I still am super interested in it. Luckily, Anne Applenaum gave me enough information about the Gulag to last me a lifetime.

To begin with, Applebaum chose an interesting way to describe the Gulag system. Since the book covers the entire length of the history of the Gulag - which lasts from the 1920s through the 1980s - I assumed that it would be told like a story. I thought Applebaum would explain how things changed from decade to decade. I was happy to see that Applebaum does choose to tell it in a chronological format in Part I of the book as well as Part III. However, what was a truly exciting discovery, is that Applebaum uses Part II of the book to describe different themes in the Gulag - from how prisoners were arrested dying and escape. These special categories provide a great insight for readers - especially readers who have no background with the Gulag system at all.

Usually, as a student with a background in the social sciences, I find it hard to digest nonfiction, historical books written by authors who have no particular expertise in history. However, Applebaum did so much extensive research that I easily forgot about it and fell into the deep history of the Soviet Union and the Gulag. What stood out to me in particular is how Applebaum actually want to Russia to visit the sites of these camps as well as talk to survivors and their families. It leads to an authenticity that some reporters fail to reach when writing historical works. The only thing that I feel is missing is more of the story from the point of view of those who ran the camp system - on that, I feel as if the book is slightly lacking. This is a book about the survivors, so please be aware of that before you begin it.

That being said, this book is not a casual read by any means. I like to think of myself as a voracious reader who has read many books in her time on this earth. However, this book has so much information to digest that it's hard to read it casually. This reminds me of a book that I would have read during my undergraduate career more than a casual book pick out of the library over the weekend. Once you finish the book, however, you will feel a strong sense of accomplishment. This book is an experience that anyone who is interested in the history of humanity - how we can reach the depths of cruelty and still survive all the same.

This book is definitely worthy of my 5 bookmarks out of 5 rating. The depth and breadth of the book could have been a difficult thing to master, but Applebaum pulls it off flawlessly. One of the coolest things about the book is the fact that Applebaum states that "This book was not written 'so that it will not happen again,' as the clich[e] would have it. This book was written because it almost certainly will happen again. (page 577)." Applebaum keeps her analysis of human nature hopefully, but brutally realistic. This is a must-read have for any library, in my humble opinion.