Qwerky Reviews The Bluest Eye

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS

The Bluest Eye is a book about a young African-American girl living in the 1940s who wants blue eyes above all else.

And if you think that sounds like a semi-light hearted book, you would be horribly wrong.

The girl is raped by her father, becomes pregnant, and has a miscarriage.

The book was tragic, but I can't quite bring myself to feel for the characters.

I brought the question to myself: Why, other than my basic lack of empathy, would I not be emotionally torn by the story of a girl who has such a tragic thing happen to her?

Well, for one thing, the writing style. With each chapter, the author introduces a new character, and each character alone has little to do with the story. The protagonist and the narrator are two different characters, and things are never, never shown in the perspective of Pecola, the girl who is put through all of the trouble.

The Narrator, Claudia, had a sister who was, however briefly, sexually abused by a boarder who lived with them, Mr. Henry. However, no mention of it is ever made after the chapter in which it happens. You'd think that being felt up by a man you once trusted until right after that would be a tragic occurrence, but it seems not. Apparently, the character is only interested in introducing the (rather pointless) back story of the most amoral character in the book, who apparently was abandoned by both his parents and raised by his great aunt, who died, and he ran away from home, which doesn't quite explain the list of atrocities it is implied he committed.

The characters are developed, but put together rather haphazardly into the same setting. The story sets things up that you think might be important later, but you finish the book, and think, 'What happened to X?' Apparently, the author may have forgotten about it, which is what I assumed was the case with what I call the 'whiskey subplot'.

In conclusion, the book is interesting, but not enough to give a good score to. If this review hasn't ruined the plot for you any more than the first chapter does, then I'd recommend it.

It's still kind of hard to suggest it out of context. Allow me to present the following theoretical dialog-

"Hey, do you want to read this book?"

"What's it about?"

"...rape."

As a side note, I found the 'Master Narrative' used to be off-putting and unnecessary. As a reader, I could easily have understood that Pecola's life sucks ass without juxtaposing it with lines from Dick and Jane.

Ah, the waiting period.

Since I have just finished reading and reviewing Haroun and the Sea of Stories, I'm accepting suggestions, though I must add a new rule:

The Romance genre will only be accepted if it's a Romantic Comedy.

But I won't accept Shakespearean works, because I'm just going to give a blanket statement right here:

I loves me some Shakespeare.

So I won't be able to review it unless I'm looking for breaks in the meter.

Qwerky Reviews Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Here it finally is, folks. The long-awaited first installment of Literary Speak.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a short novel by renowned British-Indian author, Salman Rushdie.

For those of you who, like I, had almost no idea who Salman Rushdie is, I'll fill you in.

Salman Rushdie is a Knight Bachelor for 'Services to Literature,' or so declared by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007, which is pretty much the modern equivalent of being Shakespeare.

He's also loved by the French, being awarded the rank of Commandeur in the Ordre des Artes et des Lettres, which, when translated into a real language, means 'Order of the Arts and of the Letters,' which I assume means literary stuff. French is a very direct language, but it's incredibly confusing. He also holds a place in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which is very likely to get hate mail from Twilight fans as soon as they realize it exists and that Stephenie Meyer hasn't been elected to it.

Due to his book, The Satanic Verses, he was the subject of Muslim protests worldwide, and the 'Supreme Leader of Iran,' Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared a fatwa against him, and that means that, for some Muslims, a death sentence on Rushdie.

Anyways, now that you've been educated on the various achievements of the author, let's talk about Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Personally, I loved it, and judging by the title, I assumed it would be about a storyteller named Haroun and a collection of disconnected short stories, but I was proved wrong and I didn't mind.

The novel is described by Stephen King as "...a book for anyone who loves a good story. It's also a work of literary genius." I'm inclined to agree. I haven't disagreed with anything I've heard from Stephen King (i.e., that 'Stephenie Meyer cannot write worth a darn), and I'm not going to start now.

A story about a young boy named Haroun Khalifa and his father, Rashid who is a storyteller, who, when asked about his talent from his son, says that, and I'm paraphrasing here, he gains his abilities from 'magical Water Genies.'

When Rashid's wife leaves with the incredibly boring neighbor living upstairs, leaving he, Haroun and the neighbor's former wife, distraught. Since the wife left at 11, Haroun's attention span becomes 11 minutes.

Soon, he and Rashid go on vacation, where the two learn that, in place of his stories, all Rashid can say is 'Ark,' which is rather problematic for the politicians who hire him to tell stories at their campaigns. (It is much more comforting to hear what is definitely false, than to hear possible lies from a politician.)

Another politician hires Rashid, but before the date where he is scheduled to speak, Haroun hears someone in the hotel bathroom. It was a water genie, wjo was there to disconnect Rashid's Story Water supply.

Haroun, being a rather resourceful young boy, negotiates a hearing with 'The Walrus,' who controls the water with a P2C2E, or 'Process too Complicated to Explain.'

(No, the walrus is not John Lennon. I was disappointed, too.)

He and the Water Genie, Iff, travel to Earth's second moon, Kahani, where Haroun, Rashid, Iff, two rhyming fishes, a robotic bird, a gardener, and the city of Gup save a rather ugly princess and the entire moon of Kahani.

I won't go into the details, but Rushdie's light-hearted, silly approach to writing reminded me somewhat of Douglas Adam's work, made it all worthwhile. If this review holds any sway over you, I will use my magic blogger powers to make you buy a copy and read it.

Update:

So I've started reading Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

I like it so far. It has a sentence that will never be used in proper context. It goes, 'So it was that Haroun Khalifa the storyteller's son soared into the night sky on the back of Butt the Hoopoe with Iff the Water Genie as his guide.'

Oh, and I have three followers now! Too bad they're all old ladies.

Kidding. Now I have the feeling I'm not getting anything for my birthday. Or Christmas. Or ever again.

AAAAARGH!

I can't do it.

I know that people were longer-winded in the 1400s, but come on! Erasmus' sentences, dare I say, are longer than Hemingway's! I promised myself I'd finish it, but come on!

Working on it!

I've started reading In Praise of Folly, and by that, I mean I've downloaded it because it's so old it wasn't at the library and it's not copyright protected here in the States.

Here's the first sentence:

'HOW slightly soever I am esteemed in the common vogue of the world, (for

I well know how disingenuously Folly is decried, even by those who are

themselves the greatest fools,) yet it is from my influence alone that

the whole universe receives her ferment of mirth and jollity: of

which this may be urged as a convincing argument, in that as soon as I

appeared to speak before this numerous assembly all their countenances

were gilded oyer with a lively sparkling pleasantness: you soon welcomed

me with so encouraging a look, you spurred me on with so cheerful a hum,

that truly in all appearance, you seem now flushed with a good dose of

reviving nectar, when as just before you sate drowsy and melancholy, as

if you were lately come out of some hermit's cell.'

Ernest Hemingway only wishes he had sentences this long.

My Introductions

My name is Qwerky, and I'll be attempting to invade the internets with literacy, and by that, I mean, attempting to expand my horizons by writing about books.

I'll write about any book you want, but give me a break because I have to finish it first. However, (and this is important), I will only write about standalone books. No, 'Generic Teenager and the Blabbity Blah no. 6'.

No pornography. I'm grateful that you'd suggest it, but I won't review it.

No complaining that I didn't like the book. If I read, oh, let's say, Sparkling Teenage Vampires number 8 and don't like it, and you complain, I won;t be accepting recommendations from you for a while.

No manga/comic books. Same principle as porn. I'm glad you'd recommend it, but i won't review it.

No spin-offs of popular series. This includes, for example, LOST: The Novelization, or books about Spider-Man, Star Wars, or anything beginning with an 'S', 'T', or 'M'. I don't want to read your god damn fan fiction.

Despite this, I may accept an original, unpublished piece of fiction, if only to point out the grammatical mistakes the author has made.

Until I get a request to review a book, I'll be reviewing Classical Literature, like In Praise of Folly.