Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

For the time being, life sucks for teenager Jacob Portman. Oh, sure, he comes from a wealthy Florida family and wants for nothing, but he's recently been depressed lately. And who wouldn't be? He found his eccentric grandfather viciously mauled to death by dogs. Problem is, Jacob knows his grandfather didn't die that way. His grandfather was actually killed by monsters, a reflection of the strange childhood the former used to tell Jacob about when he was younger, a childhood that involves a strange school on a secluded Welsh island that housed children who were invisible or capable of levitating. Of course, try telling the true story to anyone, and you get shipped off rather promptly to a shrink, which is exactly what happens to Jacob. Fortunately for his own peace of mind, he is able to connive a visit to the island his grandfather talked about to prove to himself whether or not the older man's stories had any basis in fact. There, he discovers that his grandfather's seemingly fictional tales are very real. . . .

I came across this unique young adult book while working at the library. One of my coworkers was reading about it on Amazon. We both were attracted to the creepy cover, so she ended up reading it. She told me the book wasn't spectacular but was undeniably weird. Naturally, I couldn't resist giving it a try. Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrine's School For Peculiar Children is an uneven book with its share of flaws, but it is certainly unique and has enough good points that I recommend it.

After discussing this book with two other people who have read it, all three of us concurred that the best adjective for it is, ahem, "peculiar." It's not scary--Don't fear! This book will not give you nightmares--but it is certainly eerie. This haunting gothic atmopshere is exactly why I recommend it. The creepy gothic pictures that accompany the text play a substantial role in creating this atmosphere. In fact, even if this book isn't your cup of tea, I recommend checking it out just to look at the pictures, which range from levitating girls to creepy clown children. They are that good! Apparently, Riggs used actual old photos that he found in various collectors' stashes and then worked the images into the story. Overall, I thought he did a fairly good job of working random pictures into a a fairly cohesive plot. Occasionally, the plot did seem a little contrived--as if there were certain pictures that Riggs wanted to include just because they were so cool; thus, he added a related element in the story. Nevertheless, the effect more than makes up for this problem.

Personally, I had a bit of a hard time liking Jacob. Oh, he's not awful, not by any stretch of the imagination. He's just like every other somewhat sarcastic troubled YA hero I've met lately. I would have liked someone with a little more depth and individuality. The person he reminds me most of is Percy Jackson--more on that in a minute--but I found Percy a little more accessible. Jacob's first person narration is still pretty funny, though, and I don't necessarily have to like the protagonist to enjoy a book.

My only real complaint with the book is that about midway through, the story transitions from a good dark gothic horror/mystery story to a run-of-the-mill fantasy adventure, a la Percy Jackson. I like a good fantasy adventure, such as the aforementioned Percy Jackson series, but I was enjoying the gothic aspects of the story, so I felt a little cheated when the tone switched. To the book's credit, it's action-packed fantasy adventure with its own unique spin on the genre.

The ending leads me to believe that a sequel in the works, but I can't find anything to confirm that on the internet. I'm not sure the story is quite strong enough to generate a YA series, but I'll withhold judgment until I read any sequels. Riggs is certainly a creative writer with an eye for the eccentric, so I don't doubt that any follow-up would be equally as whimsical and strange . . . and feature just as many amazing photos! ^^

If you like gothic horror or are hankering for another fantasy adventure read now that Percy Jackson's series is at an end, I recommend Miss Peregrine's School For Peculiar Children. It's certainly not a book for everyone, but it has its charms, one being that it's a quirky fast-paced read, perfect for summer! At the very least, pick it up and skim the pictures. I kid you not--they are delightfully creepy.
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Next Time: I have no idea.
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This Week In Literary History: 5 August 1850: French writer Guy de Maupassant is born. Truth is, I've only read one of his stories--"The Necklace"--but it's such a good short story! You should definitely read it if you never have.

The Historian

History grad student Paul has a relatively mundane life, which is sort of a given when you're working on a doctoral thesis about Dutch merchants in the 17th century. Nevertheless, as often happens in novels, his life--and the danger quotient involved in it--changes drastically after he finds an unusual book that may be connected to the infamous Transvylanian ruler Vlad Tepes, better known to millions as Dracula. Paul's discovery triggers a desperate hunt throughout 1950s Eastern Europe for further information on the deadly, mysterious Tepes, with the former accompanied by a mysterious anthrolpology student named Helen and a ragtag team of scholars that he meets along the way.

I've been meanming to read Elizabeth Kostova's mammoth debut novel, The Historian, for quite some time. I've had several people recommend it to me. The description that usually accompanies it is "This is a real vampire novel, unlike Twilight." I'm not entirely sure I'd characterize this novel as the next best thing in vampire literature--I'm a diehard Bram Stoker fan--and I did find Kostova's book a bit uneven and flawed, but, nevertheless, I still enjoyed it.

Kostova uses letters and diary entires to relate much of her story, much as Stoker did in Dracula. I enjoy this approach to literature, and, overall, I think Kostova did a good job of pulling it off. The story flowed fairly well, though I did notice that her characters lacked tonal variety. All of their letters sounded as if the same person wrote them. They all also share the somewhat unnerving tendency of writing long, detailed letters to each other, even when the letterwriter is in mortal danger or just a bit of a hurry. One thing that Kostova excelled at, in my opinion, was her description of the many settings that the characters encounter in their travels. She has a knack for creating atmosphere, and, having just returned from Europe myself, I enjoyed the way she recreated locales from across the continent. The fact that the main characters were historians and spent a considerable amount of time in archives and libraries also did my nerdy heart good. I found Paul and Helen to be fairly likable protagonists--yay for nerds!--though I think my favorite character has to be a vampire librarian that pursue the pair. (He's the inspiration for my tweet a few weeks ago that read "I VANT TO SORT YOUR BOOKS!" Ahem, pray tell, why are you staring at me?)

As much as I enjoyed Paul and Helen, I had trouble liking Paul's daughter, whose story occurs is intersected with his adventure with Helen. She just struck me as completely devoid of any individuality or distinguishing characteristics. Fortunately, her story was subordinate to Paul's and Helen's, so that subplot, though it formed a sizeable portion of the book, wasn't too distracting for me. My biggest problem with the novel is some of the plotting. I think Kostova did a nice job of maintaining my interest through 640 pages--no small feat--but sometimes she took the easy way out and relied on contrivances and coincidences to advance the story. I'm sorry, but the characters acknowledging that their highly unlikely and fortuitous meeting that garned them lots of wonderful information about Dracula was a coincidence doesn't make the meeting any less of a coincidence that smacks of lazy plotting, especially when that formula is repeated throughout the story. There was also one particular aspect of the ending that bugged me as a bit too far-fetched. (I refuse to reveal it here to avoid spoilers. If you've read The Historian and want to argue or commiserate with me, PM me. I'll force you to hear me whine digitally. ^^)

I have seen discussions of the book where readers have complained that Dracula, in the book, is not scary. I agree with that description of him, but I don't necessarily see it as a flaw. He is creepy and a bit eerie, which is what Kostova intended according to interviews she's given, but he's also a bit more complex than how he's usually portrayed, something that I enjoyed.

I'm hesitate to unequivocally recommend this book, for the reasons I mentioned above, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this read. If you can look past some of the flaws, you'll find a nerdy adventure with some creepy overtones and an inventive take on the Dracula story.
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Next Time: I have no idea. Consider it a delightful--or not so delightful--surprise.

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This Week In Literary History: 9 July 1918: William Faulkner, one of my absolute favorite authors, joins the RAF to fight in WWI, though he didn't finish training in time to see combat. The war shaped literature and society for the next couple of decades, as people tried to cope with the fallout of a modern war, especially the truly horrifying number of casualties. In fact, as evidence of the widespread impact of the war, just the day before Faulkner joined, his future rival Hemingway was wounded severely on the Italian front.

The Eyre Affair

Imagine the year 1985 in a world where the Crimean War still rages on, time travel is possible, book worms exist (Get it? Get it?), and the British public can't get enough of literature and art. Rabid Baconians stalk the street, proselytizing that Francis Bacon wrote the amazing plays attributed to Shakespeare; militant surrealists are murdered by rogue impressionists on the streets of London; and the novel Jane Eyre ends with Jane marrying that twit cousin of hers and leaving Mr. Rochester to a sad life all alone. (How dare she! Poor lonely Eddie...) In this chaotic world, a market exists for bootlegged manuscripts of classic novels, which is exactly what SpecOp agent Thursday Next battles on a day-to-day basis. The brainy but troubled Next is used to hunting down forged copies of Johnson and Austen. What she is not used to is maniacal criminals like Acheron Hades entering into books to kidnap and murder beloved literary characters. When Hades kidnaps Jane, it is up to Thursday, her partner, and Mr. Rochester himself to rescue Jane and make the world safe for classic literary characters everywhere.

My coworker Darcie recommended this delightful book--The Eyre Affair--to me; when I hinted at reviewing this book last week, Serena not only correctly guessed the title, she also recommended the book as well. When one reader with great taste in books suggests a book to me, I always get excited. When two readers with great taste in books suggest a book to me, I cannot resist. Thank you both so much! I loved this book and can't wait to read the rest of this series.

One reason I loved this book was the pithy British sense of humor that author Jasper Fforde brings. His witty style and outrageous plots remind me of some weird fusion of Terry Pratchett, Monty Python, and Lynne Truss. (It also reminds me of my beloved TV show Pushing Daisies. It has the same darkly funny mix of humor and escapist fantasy. Random Zella tangent: I will never, ever forgive ABC for cancelling Pushing Daisies. If ABC is reading this: I have not forgotten that retaliation riot I threatened. Consider yourself warned.) I am especially impressed with the skill that Fforde handles a plot that could very easily be dismissed as too silly. Instead, he crafts a gripping thriller and a sharply humorous alternative universe that is not so very different from our own, yet is worlds away, in a good way. The characters are likeable, quirky, and complex, especially Thursday, who is a truly wonderful heroine. She's neither a pathetic damsel in distress nor an over-the-top action heroine stereotype, both of which I despise in fiction. I also enjoyed the twisting plot that features elements of several genres. Sci fi, fantasy, mystery, alternative history, and humor fans will all find something to love here. Fforde puts clever twists on timeworn cliches from each genre, which helps add to the inventive tone.

However, the real draw will be for those who love classic literature. That's not really a prerequisite to reading and enjoying this book--it certainly stands alone--but this book will definitely be more appealing to those who have read and loved Jane Eyre and those who recognize all of the literary allusions that Fforde inserts within the text. (My favorite is Thursday's Uncle Mycroft. I named my laptop after Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother, a couple of years ago. I had a moment of extreme nerdy happiness when I read Mycroft's name in this book..)

If you're looking for a light-hearted, clever, and highly original read, of either the spec fic or literary variety, try The Eyre Affair. Jasper Fforde is a talented writer with a highly original outlook on fiction. Beware, though: You may find yourself scrambling to find his other books, just like Darcie, Serena, and myself.

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Next Week: Um, I have no idea. Maybe some Cormac McCarthy. Or a YA thriller set in World War II. Or Treasure Island. I have no earthly idea. Don't look at me! *hides in corner and cries*