Animal Farm by George Orwell

 

What classic have you always meant to read, but you haven’t quite gotten to it yet?

My son Daniel and I read most of Animal Farm by George Orwell together years ago (he was in middle school at the time. He is now a senior in high school.)  For some reason, we never read the last chapter.  I finally finished it up last month.  I had never read this book in my time in K-12 or in college, but I have always heard about it.  Unfortunately, it seems very relevant to the times we live in.

In this classic novella, animals on a farm in England rise up against their cruel master, Mr. Jones, and take over the farm to run it for themselves.  Things seem to go well until a pig named Napoleon and other pigs take over.  They change rules to help themselves and a pig named Squealer has the job to convince the other animals that their memory is faulty, “Comrade Napoleon is always right.”  Will the animals ever find the equality that they seek?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This is a quick read and short book.

·       This story is written in the style of fable.

·       It is a dystopian story. 

·       We read the illustrated classic and liked the drawings in this version.

·       This book is on the banned book list.

·       I loathed Napoleon.

·       The different animals are supposed to represent different people in the history of the USSR.  For example, a pig called Snowball represent Leon Trotsky and is driven off the farm.

·       As the food rations smaller, pigs say that its is better than life under Farmer Jones.  Rules change slowly and no one is sure what is true. 

·       The story shows how a pure idea of freedom that is supposed to benefit all is corrupted by powerful people who take advantage of the uneducated masses to go along with things that do not benefit them.  The eventual dictator/leader turns to capitalism.

·       It seems like this book would be a better high school read rather than a middle school read where you could really dig into the history of the USSR and also current topics.

·       This book seemed heavy handed at times but did get the point across.  I got a lot more out of 1984 by George Orwell. 

Favorite Quote: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.

The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanne M. White (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

If you could save one book from being burned, which book would you pick?

German expatriate authors gathered in Paris after Nazis started to burn books in Germany.  They opened a library that has collected together all of the banned books on the Nazis list.  When the Germans enter Paris, Christian Bauer, a former literature professor that has been drafted by the Nazis is sent to close the library of banned books and to relocate France’s other libraries.  Once there he meets Corinne Bastien, a professor and patron of the library who has been using it to help to spread these forbidden ideas.  What will happen to the library?  Will Christian be able to protect the literature that he secretly loves?  Will love blossom between the two?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I thought this was an interesting look into an aspect of WWII that I have always found disturbing, the burning of books and limitations put on the spreading of ideas.

·       I enjoyed both the characters of Christian and Corinne.  I loved their banter and witty conversations about literature.

·       Everyone seems confused that Corinne is a professor.  They think she looks younger than she is.  The Nazis tell her she should be trying to get married and having children.  They also say that this type of job should be left to the men. Unfortunately, this rhetoric seems prevalent still to this day.

·       This novel expressed the importance of books and ideas.  If you feel you need to suppress ideas and books in order to control people, what does that say about your ideology?  We’ve seen a rise in book banning over the last few years in the United States and is concerning.

·       This book did make me ponder, what would people do if this started to happen? If a politician told you that a book was “bad”, would you throw it away or burn it and go along with the crowd? Would you hide the book?  Would you help keep the word alive?  I have consistently been against book banning when it has unfortunately cropped up in my life.

·       Christian was a complicated character.  Further into the story, his motivations are revealed.  Why would a man who loves the written word like him go along with the Nazis?  He wants to help his friends, but he also has a much deeper and more personal reason.

·       The ending of this book was perfect.

·       There is a great authors note and discussion questions at the end of the novel.  It was so interesting that there really was a library of burned books in Paris.

Overall, The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. White was a thought-provoking historical fiction novel with an intriguing story and wonderful characters.

Book Source: Thank-you to @roseannamwhite @tyndalehouse @austenprose for a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.

When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka

 

What is your favorite banned book?

A Japanese family that is living in Berkely California is evacuated to a Japanese internment camp in Utah.  Their father was arrested on December 7^th and shipped somewhere separately.  Each family member is impacted in a different way.  As they return after the war, it is hard to adjust back to life amongst neighbors who labeled them the enemy.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was a short, but powerful book.  It was very thought provoking.

·       Sparse prose describes the story of one family of Japanese heritage that was taken to an internment camp by the U.S. Government during WWII and how it impacted their lives.

·       The book is written in five chapters, each with a different perspective (mother, daughter, son, family, father).

·       The family remained unnamed through the novel and could have been anyone.

·       This book was banned in Muskego, Wisconsin, by the school board in 2022 for the advanced English class as it did not have a “balanced” viewpoint as it only showed the Japanese internment camp survivor’s perspective.  What a ridiculous reason to ban a book.  I thought this book would be a perfect book to read and discuss in a literature or history class.

·       This was a great read for Asian American Pacific Islander month.

Overall, When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka is a powerful book about one family’s experience in the Japanese Internment campus during WWII.  I’m still thinking about this book a week after finishing it.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com

 

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

 

Do you have a favorite banned book?  A LOT of my favorite books have been banned at one time or another.  In honor of banned books week this past week, I’m finally posting a review of a book I read and loved in August.

Lula Dean has never read the books she wants to ban, but she has heard that they contain dangerous ideas.  She takes her outrage out by getting many, many books banned.  She becomes a local celebrity for “saving” the children.  She puts a little library of books she deems appropriate in front of her house.  Her lifelong nemesis, Beverly Underwood, has a daughter named Lindsay.  Lindsay goes to Lula Dean’s little library and puts banned books within the slip covers of the appropriate books.  What will the town readers think when they read the banned books?

My thoughts on this book:

·       Different characters in town read different banned books that open their eyes to a wider world view, and it changes their lives.

·       This was a well-crafted social satire novel.  It was very engaging and humorous.

·       I enjoyed all the different characters and subplots.

·       It was fun seeing what different books that have been banned in the US were found in the little library and how they changed lives.  For example, the wife of Nazi sympathizer reads a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank.

·       This book is very timely and deals with current issues.  Do not read this if you don’t like to read about politics.

·       The citizens of the small town have different politics, but they can explore their differing opinions and change their perspectives.

·       There is a great author’s note at the end that discusses her inspirations, being from the South herself.  There is also a list of the books named in the chapters and whether they are banned.

·       This book is very inclusive in the types of characters that live in the small town.

Overall, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books is a timely social satire that was a great read.

Book Source:  Review copy from NetGalley. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

I have been wanting to read this book for years, no less because my best friend Jenn loaned it to me a while ago and I need to read it and give it back.  I decided to read it during banned books week. It was the perfect week as it is included again on the 2018 list of most banned books.

Junior is growing up on a reservation in Spokane, Washington.  He was born with water on the brain and had to have surgery as a six-month-old that almost killed him.  He could have been brain damaged, but he is a very smart kid. He has other problems (like with his vision) caused by water on the brain and is picked on constantly.  His best friend Rowdy is the one person who understands him and helps to defend him against the bullies.

That all changes when Junior decides to leave the reservation and go to the closest white school to further his educational opportunities. Rowdy and pretty much the entire tribe think of him as a traitor.  Will Junior be able to fit in at his new school and will he be able to fit in with his tribe?

Junior loves to draw cartoons and they are included throughout the text.  I loved how they were part of the story and had provided moments of humor for sometimes very dire situations.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was both humorous and at times a very sad story.  I love how Junior realized his parents had a lot of love and support for him, but he also had to deal with his father’s alcoholism and his family’s poverty.  That lead to one of my favorite lines in the book, “Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance.  No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.”  I realized a lot of the books I read, particularly the books I read in childhood, try to teach you that poverty is something you work through to become a stronger person.  Junior take a hard look at that and does not agree.  I thought this was quite profound.

As I was reading this book, I read about Sherman Alexie and discovered that not only is he considered one of the leading Native American authors of today, but he is also at the center of accusations as part of the Me-Too movement.  Can one separate the actions of the author from his work?  I think yes, otherwise I would be throwing most classics out the window (I’m looking at you Ernest Hemingway).  What do you think?

I read this novel with the eye on – why is it banned and I saw plenty of items that a parent could freak out about.  I had read it was a racist portrayal of Native Americans.  I think that is ironic when it is written by a Native American and is largely based on his childhood.  There is alcoholism in the novel, and Junior has an anti-religion page after some tragic deaths in his family.  He also waxes on about masturbation for a page or so at the start of the book. Any of these items could be something that someone could complain about to a school library. All in all, they would also definitely make it a novel that young adults would enjoy and identify with.

Favorite Quotes:

“I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.”

“You have to read a book three times before you know it.  The first time you read it for the story.  The plot . . . The second time you read a book you read it for its history.”

“There are all kinds of addicts, I guess.  We all have pain.  And we all look for ways to make the pain go away.”

“If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing.”

Overall, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is an excellent novel that made me both laugh and cry.  I loved Junior’s story and how it looked at some of the deep trials that a Native American teenager faced trying to find his place in the world and where he fits in.  It was a great coming of age story.  I loved its look at friendship, family, and loss.

Book Source:  My best friend Jenn loaned me this book.