Cheryl Strayed's Wild Journey

Are you wild about Wild?  I certainly am!

I always love encouraging friends to read because it means we can discuss the book together.  So when one of my friends mentioned reading Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, I filed the title in my head for future reference.  Only, the title did not stay filed for long.  Literally the next day I heard Cheryl in interview with one of my favourite radio hosts.  With two recommendations, I bought the book.

Wild chronicles the physical and emotional journey of self-discovery as Cheryl hikes the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT).  Pacific Coast Trail, you ask?  Don’t worry, I hadn’t heard of it either and there’s a handy map to guide you along the way.  The PCT encompasses both dessert and snowy mountains.  Both terrains yield their own challenges – challenges Cheryl doesn’t stray from.

Within the first few chapters, we see the mostly pulled-together Cheryl with a husband, career goals, and a somewhat functional family fall apart after the death of her mother.  It is this broken young woman that, in a moment of clarity (some might call it insanity) decides to hike the Pacific Coast Trail . . . alone. 

Solely determined to hoist the monster of a backpack her inexperience piles on her and complete the task she started, Cheryl’s determination both humors and inspires her readers.  The prose through which Cheryl leads us her journey brings us right alongside her.  The blisters forming on her feet are real; the loneliness she feels is tangible; the excitement at meeting fellow hikers joyous; the exhaustion, well, that is just completely overwhelming.   And yet, the strength Cheryl wields pushes through all these until she emerges from her journey a new woman.

So much a new woman that she changes her last name to “Strayed”.  As Cheryl explains “strayed” defines her. She had to stray from normalcy, conquer a battle to become the woman she is today.

Truly a memoir that draws the reader in, I recommend this book for EVERYONE! 

Hungering for more Hunger Games.

I initially shied away from Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games.  I lumped this book into the Harry Potter/Twilight dystopian young adult craze that seems to be sweeping the literary scene and since I considered myself too old, too mature, and too sophisticated to enjoy this novel, it failed to make it onto my to-read pile.

And then I just so happened to drop this book, along with a dozen other random titles into my bag at the local used book sale.  When I was looking for something easy and fun to read, I picked up Hunger Games; and now I hunger for more.

The ease of the language coupled with a suspenseful plot created a book I did not and could not put down.  The premise is simple: killed or be killed.  Or at least that is the directive given by the Capitol in its yearly ritual known as the Hunger games.  Of course, what YA novel doesn’t include a love triangle?  Collin’s doesn’t disappoint.  Our female protagonist, Katniss possesses killer instinct and loyalty.   And despite the mandate of the Games, a certain amount of empathy pervades Katniss’s actions.  Peeta and Gale complete the triangle as the love interests of Katniss.  While Gale stands by Katniss in the everyday fight for survival, Peeta fights for Katniss and her acknowledgment of him.  I’ll leave you with that.

Besides an enjoyable read, this novel also invokes questions about social norms.  Why does society have such a savage desire to witness outright murder?  Of course in the Hunger Games, this savagery appears more conspicuous when our real human characters we’ve grown to love fight each other.   But is it any better if we watch it on TV?  I appreciate Katniss’s view on this matter and wonder if this is Collin’s way of making a statement.

And now to watch the movie. . . .and read the rest of the series.  Stay tuned!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Two worlds that should not collide.

Let me preface this review with two comments: first, I love Jane Austen and all of her novels – they just make me smile; second, the current popularity of zombies urged me check out that world.  So why not let these two worlds collide?

I’ll tell you why: the collision kind of ruins Jane Austen.

I won’t lie: it started off highly entertaining.  I was immediately amused by how Seth Grahame-Smith tweaked Austen’s language to directly incorporate the zombies.  The opening line reads: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains”.  I can appreciate this play with the original opening line.  And initially I found the undead’s presence kind of amusing, albeit a little stressful at times.  Like when traveling between homes, the Bennet girls often had to fight off these unmentionables.  And occasionally, this worked well within the story that I love.  Remember when Jane visits the Bingley’s and falls ill because she rode in the rain, leading to Elizabeth’s arrival in Netherfield and clash with the arrogant Mr. Darcy?  In the current zombie addition, the reason for Jane’s prolonged visit is because of a zombie attack!  It’s not actually so far-fetched.

And then the novel lost me.  I found that the addition of the zombies created new storylines lacking Austen’s intentions.  Relatively major characters are bitten by zombies and slowly move into the land of the undead; refined romantic women are now sword-wielding ninja warriors.  Seriously, instead of singing and playing the piano at social gatherings, these women pick up their swords, and pierce the heart of zombies.  And the men find this attractive?  Oh, and Darcy physically beats up Wickham . . . to win over Elizabeth.   Why is everyone so violent?  I know they’re living through the zombie apocalypse, but my characters are charming, sophisticated, elegant.  So when Elizabeth fights Lady Catherine and her ninjas in a battle involving extremely athletic leaps and spin, as well as sword clashing and muscle punctures, the collision between Austen and zombies finally implodes and I decided the novel is ridiculous. 

Furthermore, with all the alterations in storyline, Grahame-Smith’s must actually write his own material.  And let’s just say it’s not up to the sophistication of Austen’s.   If I actually enjoyed the novel, I could forgive the lack of intellectual writing.  The combination of ridiculous story and bad writing make this novel not worth my time.

Oh ya, and I didn’t learn that much about zombies. 

I have other zombie books on my to-read pile, so perhaps those stories will draw me in better than this ridiculous adaptation of one of my favourite novels.