Poetry: The Mythic Forest; An Announcement of War

Two poems to kick off the month of September. Enjoy!

----

The Mythic Forest

At night, when light snags

the underbelly of ancient trees, once dark

like shrouded giants and whales–

light that grasps at straight lines

from car lamps driving home

through familiar country,

light that pulses like lungs

from a lantern in the black forest

of a deep backyard–

when light nails the unexpected,

a vast wild field or a large shadow

like a dragon above us,

we must feel it catch and suddenly

it pulls us close together,

out of our vague dreams,

into a wilderness stirring with myths;

a world free of our petty fears, it entices us

closer to the mystery of a presence

brooding over us; each moment

new shadows above shake loose

as leaves become scales, glistening

in our memory – mute flames

like angels who on the pathway home

stand guardian, night after night.

----

An Announcement of War

Through one cloud, two,

like a satellite passing,

a missile flew

and I was flying

like a satellite passing

through cavernous thoughts.

And I was flying

and twisting knots.

Through cavernous thoughts,

the truth (so dark) was calling.

And twisting knots,

I kept from falling.

The truth (so dark) was calling

at this late hour from a friend.

I kept from falling

to pieces on my end.

At this late hour (from a friend),

I knew and did not wish it so

to pieces. On my end,

my mind went hollow.

I knew and did not wish it. So

I entrenched myself here;

my mind went hollow,

a soldier struck by fear.

I entrenched myself here

on the couch, pretending,

a soldier struck by fear.

What was I defending?

On the couch, pretending,

through one cloud, two,

(What was I defending?)

a missile flew.

----

The first of these poems deals with how an encounter with the seemingly supernatural or unexpected and draw us closer, not only to each other, but also to a belief in things not seen. It is when we are confronted by events we cannot explain, or that feel out of the ordinary, do we begin to forget our doubts and believe in ways we didn't before. The poem itself was inspired by something simple – noticing how the headlights of cars also light up, for a moment, the trees directly above them. From that, I got to thinking about the giant shadows watching over us, so often unnoticed, but there nonetheless.

The second poem is a pantoum – a type of poem that is marked by it's repetition that changes slightly in meaning over time. Like the villanelle, it evokes a moment stuck in time. This moment of the poem never happened to me; I started writing with two questions in mind – How does war affect people? How do I view war? I'm not sure I arrived at the answer to either of those questions here, but I felt like I ended up recreating, in part, the thoughts of someone confused and detached from war. Few people desire war and bloodshed, but few also have any idea what to do about it. The "war" in this poem may be a real war, and it may be instead an argument between two people unresolved. Either way, such confrontations can leave us dumbfounded and unable to articulate our thoughts. That being said, I hope the poem itself wasn't confusing, but it is a first draft.

Any and all comments are much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Review: Speaker for the Dead (And Why It May Never Be A Movie)

Speaker for the Dead
Orson Scott Card

A couple weeks ago I reread and reviewed Ender's Game, suddenly popular again due to the forthcoming movie. When it came out, it received both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award (high praise for sci-fi novels). The following year, Speaker for the Dead, the sequel to Ender's Game achieved the same thing. Many top 100 sci-fi lists have Speaker for the Dead listed around 27th, not as impressive as Ender's Game, but still very impressive nonetheless. Ender's Game, whether it's great or barely mediocre is sure to make a lot of money, so why shouldn't they turn around and turn Speaker for the Dead into a movie too? First I'll review the book and then, if it isn't clear already, I'll spell out why this would never make a great movie in today's society.

The story starts off on the world Lusitania 3000 years after Ender's Game. Ender and what he did has gone down in history and so, when a new race is discovered on this planet, the Starways Congress is quick to make sure that nothing bad can ever happen to them and that their study is severely limited. But then the new race, often referred to as the piggies for their porcine appearance, kills one of the xenologists who had been studying them. Ender, still alive on a planet not too far away, hears what has happened and takes the call to speak the man's life as a Speaker for the Dead, someone who tells the truth of a man's life, not just what he did, but what he hoped to do - the good and the bad, the whole story. But doing so will reveal many secrets that others don't want to be heard. In addition, understanding the man's death will cause him to break all the rules surrounding the piggies and set off a chain of events that could lead to the planet's destruction.

I hope that sounds complicated to you, because it is. Speaker for the Dead, unlike it's prequel, is high science fiction, meaning that it introduces terms and concepts that most people don't understand without reading it. It can make a book harder to get into, but it can also make it more thought provoking at the same time. Of the high science fiction novels I've read, Speaker for the Dead is relatively easy to read, but you still have to enjoy several non-blockbuster things first including science (duh), philosophy, ethics, history, language, psychology, politics, and imagination. I love, or at least don't mind, all of those and so I am willing, even happy, to read through the various chapters in order to reach all the amazing moments throughout the book. Card's ability to have created this story is incredible and I take joy in learning about what he has created and the implications for my own life that are a part of being an active reader of literature.

As with Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead confronts us on many levels of out own thinking to consider new truths that we may be uncomfortable with. How do we realistically perceive others who do not seem to be like us? How does a family fall apart? How does true healing occur?

As with other books in the series, I have read this book around 7 times now and will continue to read it. There is a reason that is book is so beloved by many and I invite you to discover it for yourself. That being said, if you go into this book expecting Ender's Game, you will be surprised.

And speaking of Ender's Game, I thought I would do a follow up to my article about it where I give my prediction on the upcoming movie. The following are the reasons why I believe that, if a sequel is done to the Ender's Game movie, it will not be it's actual sequel, Speaker for the Dead (I do have an opinion on what they should do, but I will explain that at the same time as my review of that book):

1. High Science Fiction Rarely Sells Well To A Popular Crowd

As previously explained, High Science Fiction is very technical – part of the reason that they are popular is that they have discovered a niche audience of nerds who love science, philosophy, ethics, history, language, psychology, politics, imagination, etc. High Science Fiction was never meant to be mainstream. Usually the ideas are strange, if alluring in their oddity, and they often make use of technology to create uncomfortable situations and dilemmas. Often moral dilemmas can work in films, sometimes even a little new technology, but philosophical conversations are usually lost on the crowds.. Speaker for the Dead has too much of all three, I believe, for the standard audience. When we see a sequel to a movie, we are usually looking for the same type of movie and Speaker for the Dead would not fit.

(for the differences between what I consider High Science Fiction and Low Science Fiction, ask me)

2. There Are Too Many Inner Conversations and Thought Processes.

As with Ender's Game, it's not just what people do, but why they do them. This is shown by thoughts and thoughts with non-visible characters (read the book and that makes sense). Movies, for good reason, rarely opt to do those sorts of things.

3. The Series Goes On To Harder To Do Books

Speaker for the Dead ends in a major cliff-hanger which doesn't get resolved until two books later. For most movies, this is a good thing because it means more movies and more revenue. In this case it means delving into movies that are even more difficult to put in movie form - split narratives, more complicated science, philosophy, and politics. I've always known this ever since I read the series. Also, due to plot complications, it would require some crazy actor hiring and changing. Already in Speaker for the Dead it would be near impossible to hire any of the same actors and it would only get more difficult as the series continues.

4. Tough To Show On Screen

The death at the beginning of the book is pretty gruesome and a couple more happen. The piggies look a little grotesque as do the buggers. Abuse never looks pretty. Painful accidents are hard to watch. In addition to the visually unpleasant things to watch, there is little action to the movie – it is more of a drama with lots of philosophical and scientific discussions interspersed as I previously said. Within those philosophical and scientific, there are also touchy subjects talked about at length. A major plot point of the story is that Ender isn't wanted on the planet because he's an "unbeliever" and this is discussed at length. Most screenplays try to play it safe and avoid edgy topics, especially those trying to be blockbuster series.

In the end, although I might enjoy an honest attempt to make Speaker for the Dead into a movie, I can't see it happening as a follow up to the Ender's Game movie. It's not what people are expecting and it's not what major companies are likely to target as a moneymaker. But as I said before, the book is still amazing and I hope you read it, especially if you like science fiction.

Review / Movie Prediction: Ender's Game

Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card

This is my 8th time reading Ender's Game, right? I've lost count. I've grown up with this book and once wrote a 13 page paper on it. With the movie on the horizon (November) I opted to read it again and realized (again) just how brilliant it is.

On the surface it is an easy to read a story about a boy genius, Ender, being trained to be a commander against an impending alien invasion. The story deals with his struggles, both physical and psychological, as the powers above him try to mold him into what they want or need him to be. It is a story about how he grapples with the isolation and scars of his past. The plot moves at a quick pace and the ending is surprising, yet fitting, and leaves us with the sense that we have read something profound even if we don't fully understand it.

Because the profound is there within this book. It is full of symbols and layers of meaning if the reader chooses to find them. The characters, especially Ender, are complex and the ideas presented within challenged modern thought at the time it was released (1977) and even so today. Indeed, it puts forth many uncomfortable ideas as truths. This fact has caused some readers to hate the book with a passion even as others adore it. It seems to me that the greatest works tend to divide their audience and this book is no different. Card even gives examples of both kinds of readers in the introduction which he later added.

I agree with many of those truths and I identify on many levels with the main character Ender and thus I love this book and hold it dear to my heart. It should be obvious that I recommend it (and perhaps I have already recommended it to you in person), but I do so knowing that your appreciation of the novel will only be as deep as the effort you put into it.

It is here that I would turn my thoughts to the upcoming movie. It's been a long time coming and surprising that it hasn't been produced earlier. Done correctly, it could be an excellent movie. But I have my reservations, not based on the trailers, but based on the modern audience and the current movie trends.

A modern audience seems to be largely looking for crowd pleasers: Action, Romance, Excitement. Not that a crowd pleaser can't be deep or at least well put together (it is rare), but the book, Ender's Game, is not a crowd pleaser when all is said and done. It is brutal in its portrayal of children and what they are capable of, the which, if shown on screen as written, will not be what people are expecting from the movie. The politics of the book, while interesting on the page, may well be boring to the modern audience. In addition, the scriptwriter and director, Gavin Hood, has had his hits and misses with films. Beyond these points there are some specific things that will be hard for the movie because cinema just doesn't do these well:

1. Thoughts and Reasonings

Most of Ender's game is not just what is done by Ender or the other characters, but why they do them, the intelligent thought processes behind their actions and the way that they make sense out of the world around them. The book is filled with Ender's judgement of a situation. The words that are said are not nearly as important as what is thought. If all we hear in the film are the words of the characters, we will not truly understand the characters or the movement of the plot.

2. Philosophic Banter

The kids within the book are meant to be geniuses and, while they still do and say many immature things, they also have complex philosophic debates and internal struggles. The modern audience won't be looking for that in a film that showcases explosions in its trailers and, frankly, most movies these days don't bother. In a book, those who don't want to hear it skip ahead; in the cinema, people get irritated or even walk out.

3. Extreme Violence to Children.

No spoilers, but a book can get away with more violence than a movie. The reader can decide how graphic they want it to be; a movie too often spells it out. This movie is sure to be PG-13, so there are already a myriad of important events that won't happen as they do in the book.

4. Time-skips

Time-skips are relatively simple in books - they require a logical transition with the important details filled in. A movie has to hire additional actors and often a time-skip throws off the pacing. Ender's Game has multiple time skips. I can see them getting around some without hassle, but not all. The main action of the book takes place over 7 years, with an additional 10 years at the end. Which leads me to the final point:

5. Denouement

Denouement means the way the story unravels after the climax. Much can go wrong to make a movie fail between the climax and the end, and if the ending isn't satisfying, the whole movie sours. A book can, effectively, cover a lot of time quickly to achieve the denouement. The ending of Ender's Game is, while unexpected, satisfying, after thinking about it, but it is so by covering many years and brushing over many events that would be difficult for a movie to cover. It leaves you with hope. Obviously, I can only say so much while not giving spoilers, but the movie, if it desires to stay true to the book, will struggle mightily to find a good ending place.

In the end, I'll watch the movie, but not with high hopes of seeing Card's Ender's Game, but a loose interpretation of it. The visual effects will be stunning and the action scenes will be amazing I am sure. Some careful pausing of the trailers makes me think that there may even be a chance that they capture some of the key points. But in the end, the book is famous and still being printed 36 years after its publication. It won two major awards and is constantly high up if not first on many Top 100 Sci-Fi Book lists. And I reread it for a reason. I doubt if the movie will receive such accolades.

Reviews: The Rithmatist, The Positive Dog, Repair

The Rithmatist
Brandon Sanderson

I love the author's ability to create a believable world and here Sanderson does it again.

The story takes place in an alternate history of the United States. What if the states were all islands? What if there was a mysterious power called Rithmatics where some could use chalk to make things come alive? And what if some of the chalk creatures were wild and ferocious and had to be contained?

Such is the set-up for the story where a normal boy named Joel who attends an Academy mixed with Rithmatists and non-Rithmatists. He loves Rithmatics and loves its study, but not everyone does. And then, suddenly, students start to go missing under strange circumstances. Something is happening that hasn't happened before and it soon falls to Joel to help figure it out along with an old Rithmatic professor and a strange remedial Rithmatist girl.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It's the first in a series, but it did a good job of setting up the characters as complex people while at the same time containing action and a bit of romance (perhaps). The "magic" in the book is, as usual, well thought out and the drawings really help us to visualize it as well. The book also manages to keep you guessing until the very end as to what is really happening with the mystery and who is doing all the bad things. As usual, the world is well created and gives off the sense that the author knows so much more about the world than we do. Because of that, it allows me to trust that the author really is telling an authentic story with limits and bounds and not merely manipulating plot events to serve his own purpose. The author also shows well his ability to write for a variety of audiences. This book is intended more for young adult readers than some of his other books, but it is still a good read regardless of age.

I will probably read most of what this author writes because, thus far, everything I have read from him has been excellent and this book is no exception.

The Positive Dog
Jon Gordon

I'm not normally the non-fiction type, so when my boss said that we'd have to read this book before the start of the school year, I was initially skeptical. This book, however, does a good job of holding the reader's interest in the subject of positivity. It even uses a fictional account to display its meaning.

The story, inasmuch as there is a story, it about two dogs, one who starts off as a negative downer dog, and another who is a happy positive dog who likes to go around spreading positivity and explaining the benefits of being positive. The story itself is uncomplicated and sweet and a good mechanism for the message of the book. Does the book still feel non-fictiony? Yes, but at an acceptable level. The book is short, each chapter ranging from about 2-3 pages.

If you feel like you could use a boost of positivity or some advice on some things to do to be more positive, this book is helpful, easy to read, and easy to apply. So go for it.

Repair
C.K. Williams

As many know, I love to write poetry and one of the best things I can do then is to read it. This book was a winner of the pulitzer prize for poetry.

So, did I enjoy the poetry in this book? I'll admit, the author has an extremely different style from me, but there were still several gems for me. The author has a large vocabulary and likes to use it and his lines are all very long, which can sometimes make the poem feel conversational and can other times bog me down. That being said, his poems tend to have a strong ending. If you enjoy poetry, give it a try. I wouldn't say his poetry is for everyone, but there are many elements to his poetry that very worth reading.

Poetry: "Progress" and "Portrait of Two Elderly Brothers

Progress

Already, while you are reading,

you have gone

a billion miles into space

and I have followed;

the earth around the sun,

the sun around the galaxy,

and the galaxy, like a child,

creeps toward faint lights

in our tunnel of darkness.

How could we understand?

We focus on the sun –

our tether to the present

day. And night turns,

the earth restless in sleep,

to find us looking back

at the stars, the salt of our past.

They scatter in every direction,

as knowingly or unknowingly

we are dragged along in silence.

---

Portrait of Two Elderly Brothers

Their room is dim, dark gold,

with gas lamps and the gray flicker

of a TV box-set in the corner,

facing them like the past.

The tea is waiting to sing

like their mother, so long ago,

from the kitchenette of the trailer.

The brothers scrunch together

on a florid coach, no longer

the size of their childhood.

It is the older, taller one’s home

and he sits, forced by his back

to lean forward, as if to kiss

his lost wife’s forehead,

while the younger one settles in

beside the brother he hasn’t seen

for years, when both of them

stood straighter, unburdened

by old bones. They share a good

many things: glasses, wrinkles,

and forgetfulness. Remember?

they say, their voices crackling

like a radio into the 1940s,

war-torn London when first

they were forced to leave

home – bombshells dropping

into their lives, their parents

watching them at the train station

wave from a crowd of boys, each one

stretching hands out the windows.

Who knew that life would endure

beyond the haunting whistle

of a buzz bomb, ready to explode?

The sound meant your life

had been preserved a little longer,

enough to starve, enough to feast,

each day closer to a living room

in a sea-side trailer with a library

of experiences unsaid between brothers,

some things never forgotten.

--- 

The first poem, "Progress," attempts to both show the concept that we are constantly moving forward, literally, in space, while also attempting to relate this to our general progress – how we often see forward and back within a relatively short span of time, unable to see the larger picture of how progress is really going.

The second poem attempts to recreate a view of the time I saw my father and uncle together for the first time. Because my uncle lives so far away (in Tasmania), my father doesn't always get to see him and I have only seen him once. It is one of the few times I have seen my father be a "sibling" and I wanted to recapture him in that role while at the same time describing a bit of the past that they both come from.

Hope you have enjoyed! As a reminder, if you would like to see my other blog where I share other's poetry, comment, and give writing prompts, go to thebardofthemorning.blogspot.com

Reviews: "Knee-knock Rise" and "The Alloy of Law"

Well, I've read two books of late and am in the middle of another longer and slower one. Here are the reviews:

Knee-knock Rise
Natalie Babbitt

I've come to expect good things from this author. She is a children's writer and is perhaps most famous for her story "Tuck Everlasting." I also especially love her story "The Search for Delicious."

This story is about a boy who visits a town where everyone is afraid of the "Megrimum," a mysterious creature that no one has ever seen on the top of the mountain Knee-knock Rise, but whose roars are often heard during thunderstorms. What he discovers may change the town forever.

As usual with this author, there is the surface story, which is interesting and delightful, and then there are the more thoughtful undertones that ponder on real life situations. For this reason, this is a wonderful book to take with you on an airplane ride. At ~100 pages, it's easily finishable during take-off and landing when you aren't allowed electronics. That's how I read this book, anyway.

Either way, if you're looking for a quick and simple story, or perhaps something fun to read and meaningful to your child, this book is a recommend for you.

The Alloy of Law
Brandon Sanderson

This is my second time through this book, the last time being last Christmas, and I still love it. I think it might be best to first read the Mistborn trilogy as it would help you to be familiar with the majority of the terminology and would help you appreciate the incredible world-building that Sanderson has done. That being said, this novel is capable of being read without said trilogy and it should still be incredibly enjoyable.

Set in a time-period that feels like the wild west, this story follow law-keeper Waxillium Ladrian as he moves from the Roughs back into the city. Here he tries to give up his "rough" past, but it may just be that the city is the more dangerous place. Soon he is caught up trying to solve the case of "The Vanishers" before time runs out.

This book has action, suspense, romance, philosophy, and more. It's a shame the sequel isn't out yet because I would love to continue reading this story. The characters are compelling and human and the world in which they live is incredibly well imagined. I highly recommend this novel for those who like a good fantasy novel with a mixture of suspense and mystery.

For my previous review of the same novel, check this out.

The End of Spring

The End of Spring

With rustling fig leaves
through the glass windows
and sheaves of shuffling papers
across classroom desks,

the teacher sings like a swallow
and the children shift like pebbles
in their slippery seats.

They whisper and imagine
the stern door sweeping open
with a flood of feet.

Soon, they know; they watch
the clock shave the seconds
with its glacial sliding.
So cold, yet it burns.

How can we forget summer –
the music in our fingers,
the sizzle on our tongues
waiting to scream?

Even before the bell rings,
winds rush like a hurricane,
lips buzz with held breath,

and we hear in everything
the shiver of change.

---

A couple nights ago I got an idea for a poem. In the past I've written some poems that focus on one image, one type of imagery, or a certain color, or the idea of sound-based images. This poem is a sound-based poem, but I also tried harder this time around to add the sound that I was using in the images to the words in the poem itself - in this case lots of s's, z's, and some f's. I hope you enjoy!