Image via WikipediaDawn and Imago
By Octavia E. Butler, 1987 and 1989, from the library


You should know
These two books are the first and last in the Lilith's Brood or Xenogenesis trilogy; I had read the second book, Adulthood Rites, several years ago. I've also read, and really enjoyed, Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents . Butler had talked about writing a third Parable book, but despite her expectation (quoted in her author biography) "someday to be an eighty-year-old writer," she passed away in 2006.

I actually met her once, when she came to speak at St. Joe's. In fact, I accidentally hit her with my book bag...


So?
At the beginning of Dawn, Lilith Iyapo wakes up after centuries of suspended animation. Nearly all of humanity has long since died in a global war; the few survivors were rescued and preserved by an alien race called the Oankali.

The Oankali are explorers by nature, driven to find new worlds and learn and absorb everything about them. When there is intelligent life, they interbreed with the natives; when there is not, they leave behind genetic material in hopes that one day, their descendants will find intelligent life there.

Lilith wants nothing more than to escape the Oankali and return to Earth. Her guide, Nikanj, is an ooloi, a member of the Oankali's third sex and as such a master manipulator of genetic material. Nikanj undergoes its final metamorphosis to adulthood while in Lilith's company, so the two are drawn together; its care enables Lilith to be a guide to other humans she chose to begin repopulating Earth.

The middle book, Adulthood Rites, focuses on one of Lilith's sons, created by Nikanj from the genetic material of two human and two Oankali parents. It describes the society of the repopulated Earth, where humans either live in harmony with the Oankali and parent constructs, or hybrid children; or else live as sterile, long-lived resisters, fearing what they perceive as invaders.

The trilogy, having thus far featured male and female protagonists, concludes with a novel in which the protagonist is an ooloi, the first human-Oankali construct ooloi ever born. Jodahs, another of Lilith's children, was seemingly created through and accident on Nikanj's part, and deeply fears being sent away from Earth for isolation and training.

During its metamorphosis to adulthood, Jodahs stumbles upon a colony of miraculously fertile, but dangerously inbred, humans. It must carefully balance its Oankali fears concerning how dangerous humans can be, its human desires for independence without interference, and its own deep need for human mates.


Rating
Read it if...
...you really like post-apocalyptic sci-fi or compassionate-alien-invader stories, or if you've been itching for some science fiction with a protagonist who is a female of color. Also, if you've enjoyed Butler's Parable books, you should check these out; they're not the same at all, but they're good.


The rest of the Internet
A biologist remarks on the aliens of the series and how they reflect modern humanity.
Zubon at Zubon Book Reviews appreciates how alien the Oankali are and how they interact with the humans.
Butler's biography on Wikipedia.
Read an excerpt from Dawn.
Jonathan Scott at ChickenBones: A Journal presents a tribute to Butler.
Shara Saunsaucie at Calico Reaction reviews the trilogy.
A tribute to Butler and her works by Tyler Cowen at Slate.
Butler's New York Times obituary.
Dawn, Imago, and the full trilogy at LibraryThing.


Awesome link of the week
I don't recall how I first came across Apropos of Something, but I know it involved Lost-vivor.

Lost-vivor is a Survivor game where, after every episode, blogger Jess tallies all the awesome and awful things. Take "The Shape of Things to Come." Sawyer has a good week ("Bestowed nickname on Hurley ("Chicken Little"): +1. Launched a successful attack on Siberia: +1"). Hurley, not so much ("Get the baby away from the window, Hurley: -1. Hurley! Seriously, get the baby away from the window: -1. Dammit, Hurley, stop waving the baby around in front of the window: -1"). And hey, Vincent's doing well ("Found Doc Ray’s corpse (of course, Bernard tried to take all the credit): +3").

Last year, Sayid dominated the board, but so far this season, Ben is ahead of the game with 145 points; Daniel is a close second at 144.

Enjoy the hilarity, and check out the rest of the blog as well.

Image via Wikipedia

Lonesome Dove : A Novel

By Larry McMurtry, 1985, from the library

You should know
I've never seen any of the Lonesome Dove miniseries or movies. I think I'd like to, though.

So?
This Western novel opens at the Hat Creek Cattle Company and Livery Emporium, run by former Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call, with their hands and fellow Rangers Joshua Deets and Pea Eye Parker, plus Newt Dobbs, a 17-year-old boy of indeterminate paternity who has been raised on the ranch since the death of his mother.

Life on the ranch is tough but relatively quiet, full of hard work, whiskey, and frequent trips to the nearby town of Lonesome Dove, the home of Lorraine, the town's beloved prostitute.

But the quiet is broken when Jake Spoon, an old friend of Call and Gus, comes back to town with stories of the unsettled northern territories. Call wants to go and settle the first ranch in Montana. Gus wants to track down his old sweetheart, who settled in the North. Lorraine falls in love with Jake, and Newt begins to suspect that Jake might be his father. The men of Hat Creek round up cattle and hands for the journey, and leave Texas, most of them permanently.

So the group heads north, meeting American Indians, cattle thieves, traders, soldiers, and a completely bewildered sheriff. They also face quite a bit of death, and a terrifying showdown with a bear.

McMurtry won a Pulitzer for this book, so if my description sounds even remotely interesting, you should consider reading it. I'm not into Westerns, but I really enjoyed it.

Rating
Read it.
This book was excellent, and despite being pretty long, it was a fast read. I highly recommend it.

The rest of the Internet
The Wikipedia and LibraryThing pages.
Amy Coffin at The Book Haven enjoyed, but was exhausted by, the book.
Keetha at Write Kudzu waxes enthusiastic about the book.
A blogger is coverted from a "no-Westerns" policy by the book at Bend the Round.
Bonnie at Fourth-Rate Reader was constantly surprised by the directions the narrative took.
Jim Schmaltz at Memory Almost Full is impressed by the sheer number of complex, fleshed-out characters.

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Driving Miss Daisy
1989, on VHS, from the library

You should know
Yeah, that’s right. There’s a whole slew of classic movies – a canon, really – that I have not seen, or had not until recently. I’m trying to correct that.

So?
Some people have problems with this film. Yes, Hoke has an air of “Magical Black Man” about him that can make the viewer a bit uncomfortable if s/he is looking for it. But since the plot of the movie is about race relations and employee-employer friendships, all tied up with an idealistic bow, that really comes as no surprise.

Daisy Werthan is a wealthy Southern Jewish woman with what’s made clear early on is far too much pride for her own good. No longer able to drive, she has no choice but to accept the services of the driver her son, Boolie, hired for her.

Hoke, the driver, is as meek and polite as he’s expected to be given the place and time, but as he gets to know the Werthans better, he rapidly picks up on exactly how much BS he can – and should – put up with. This being the movies, Daisy finds herself respecting and even liking him, in spite of herself.

Their partnership evolves as they age and the times change, and in the end, there is a tenderness between them in their advanced old age. It’s a sweet, if slightly cheesy, film.

Question to those who’ve seen it: do you think, in retrospect, it deserved to beat Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, or My Left Foot?

Rating
See it if...
You're like me and are trying to catch up on pop-culture canon... or if you just like a nice, simple story. But avoid it if you have a tendency toward finding things offensive when no offense was meant -- again, the movie is about race relations, so if you're looking to be offended, you will definitely be able to find something offensive here.

The rest of the Internet
The original play.
The IMDb page and wikipedia article.
Decent reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.
Roger Ebert weighs in.

Awesome link of the week
The Simple Dollar is a personal finance blog I've come to particularly like. The author, Trent, pulled himself out of financial ruin and takes the time each day to share his experiences, from how to have fun while pinching pennies to what personal finance books he finds most useful. He's an entertaining writer, and is always willing to reference fellow bloggers and take on challengers. I personally have bookmarked posts on Maximizing EBay sales, building a net worth spreadsheet, making homemade laundry detergent, free, fun weekend activities and other frugal weekend projects, ways to make leftovers better, indoor gardening, and writing thank-you notes.

Completely unrelated note
I'm considering changing the template of this blog, but I've been having some trouble uploading any of the ones I've picked out. I'm open to help or suggestions (and I wouldn't turn down a template, either, but don't go to any trouble).

Image via Wikipedia

Maus: A Survivor's Tale Volume I: My Father Bleeds History

By Art Spiegelman, 1986
Graphic novel, from the library

You should know

As I said in my last entry, I’m not a big comic book fan. However, I had been hoping to expand my horizons by reading both more ground-breaking graphic novels and more Pulitzer winners. I saw this on the shelf at my local library, and had to check it out.

So?

Well, it made me want to read Volume II. We learn about Spiegelman’s father, Vladek, and his life before Auschwitz. We learn about the relationship between Art and Vladek, Vladek and Anja (Art’s deceased mother), and between Vladek and Mala, Vladek’s second wife. But the story, both the present-time segments and the flashback segments, seems more like a giant setup for the real story.

Speigelman’s art is moving and telling – it’s fairly well-known that Jews are portrayed as mice and Nazis as cats (hence the title). In addition, Poles are pigs and Americans are dogs. I haven’t seen any notes on the thought process behind these anthropomorphizations, though.

Personally, I like how Spiegelman draws a weeping mouse. The inverted triangle with the gaping mouth says a lot with a very simple picture.

It’s a depressing story, obviously, chock full of violence, profanity to a lesser degree, and just a smidge of sex. It also talks about topics like depression and suicide. In other words, it’s not for kids – don’t let the comic book packaging fool you.

Rating

A must-read
The Diary of Anne Frank, Night by Elie Weisel, Schindler’s List -- the whole point is that we’re supposed to remember, especially as those who do are dying off. Now, this is not a case of “How can you pan a holocaust book?!” While I enjoyed Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars and Judy Blume’s Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, and would recommend them to kids, I don’t rank them with the above works. Maus I do.

The rest of the Internet

NPR did a story on Spiegelman and Maus.
The Village Voice has a few thoughts about Spiegelman.
Bil the Man at Rambling Thoughts of the Prof Bil the Man reviews the book.