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Reading Wednesday
Mar. 3rd, 2021 07:44 amJust finished: The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman. I don't have much to add since my vent post last week, beyond that I continued to be frustrated with its failure to live up to its potential. Also apparently it's a sequel to a book about Elodie.
Like most media about extremism written by a moderate (at least I assume Goodman's politics are fairly centrist/Liberal) it does a weird thing where it unintentionally makes the extremist position look way more fun and cool right up until the end, where the reader is told to not do this cool thing. I didn't like either of the main characters, but the separatist Véronique was way more fun and interesting than the Liberal James, who I assume is the one we're supposed to believe is correct. I don't think this book is intentional pro-FLQ propaganda, but my problem with books (and films, TV, etc.) about extremist movements and people is that I find it far easier to sympathize with the character who wants something passionately than the character who's cool with the status quo. This is Storytelling 101 stuff. The only thing James seems to want is into Véronique's pants, which isn't that interesting a motivation when there are coffee shops to bomb and such.
Anyway, if the author had just doubled down on the dysfunction, the romance part of the story would be a lot better. Instead she seemed committed to getting her boring leads together even though they don't seem to like each other very much.
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. This one was fantastic. It's about five young survivors of residential school in BC. They're abducted, violently, from their homes, thrown into this horrible torture camp, and then let go when they "graduate" with a bus ticket to Vancouver and their lives and family ties disrupted. And then they survive, or don't.
This is a story where all the trigger warnings apply. It's a deeply upsetting read. It's also a very important read, and it brings the horror of residential school and intergenerational trauma home in a way that's visceral and affecting. Brace yourself, but read it.
Currently reading: Return of the Trickster by Eden Robinson. Was no one going to tell me that the third book in Robinson's Trickster trilogy just dropped? Yesterday, apparently. I just started reading it but I'm so psyched for closure on this fantastic series. It starts with some hardcore body horror stuff so you know she's not fucking around at all.
Like most media about extremism written by a moderate (at least I assume Goodman's politics are fairly centrist/Liberal) it does a weird thing where it unintentionally makes the extremist position look way more fun and cool right up until the end, where the reader is told to not do this cool thing. I didn't like either of the main characters, but the separatist Véronique was way more fun and interesting than the Liberal James, who I assume is the one we're supposed to believe is correct. I don't think this book is intentional pro-FLQ propaganda, but my problem with books (and films, TV, etc.) about extremist movements and people is that I find it far easier to sympathize with the character who wants something passionately than the character who's cool with the status quo. This is Storytelling 101 stuff. The only thing James seems to want is into Véronique's pants, which isn't that interesting a motivation when there are coffee shops to bomb and such.
Anyway, if the author had just doubled down on the dysfunction, the romance part of the story would be a lot better. Instead she seemed committed to getting her boring leads together even though they don't seem to like each other very much.
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. This one was fantastic. It's about five young survivors of residential school in BC. They're abducted, violently, from their homes, thrown into this horrible torture camp, and then let go when they "graduate" with a bus ticket to Vancouver and their lives and family ties disrupted. And then they survive, or don't.
This is a story where all the trigger warnings apply. It's a deeply upsetting read. It's also a very important read, and it brings the horror of residential school and intergenerational trauma home in a way that's visceral and affecting. Brace yourself, but read it.
Currently reading: Return of the Trickster by Eden Robinson. Was no one going to tell me that the third book in Robinson's Trickster trilogy just dropped? Yesterday, apparently. I just started reading it but I'm so psyched for closure on this fantastic series. It starts with some hardcore body horror stuff so you know she's not fucking around at all.
