Eyes Like Stars

What? I have actually finished a book not related to my school work? Trust me I am just as shocked as you are, but it has indeed been done. Now this isn't the first time I have dived into the wonderful world of Theatre Illuminata in Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev, but the book is so good that really I could read every week.

The story revolves around Beatrice Shakespeare Smith, lovingly referred to as Bertie, who lives on the stage of the Theatre Illuminata. Theatre Illuminata is a magical theater that relies on the magic of The Book which binds all the players, who are not just actors, but the actually characters, to the theater. Bertie was brought to the theater by the Mistress of Revels when she was just a baby and ever since Bertie could wonder about her origins she has been trying to figure out who her mother is. However Bertie comes across more problems then her unknown parents when the Theater Manager tells Bertie she can no longer stay in the Theater due to her reckless actions and the effect she has on the players. Bertie convinces the Theater Manager to let her stay if she can restage Hamlet in Egypt and sell out the theater. However while Bertie tries to find her way as the newly appointed director with the help of her fairy companions in only a week to restage the play, the mischievous air elemental Ariel tries to complicate everything by attempting to escape the theater. Nate give Bertie a scrimshaw to protect her from Ariel's magic, but when she takes it off and Ariel steals The Book, Bertie's tears summon Sedna. The angry goddess of the sea tries to capture Bertie, but some magic protects her, so she takes Nate instead. Things become even more complicated when Ariel rips the pages out of the book and set the players free. Now Bertie has to repair the book, fix the Theater, restage Hamlet, and somehow save Nate.     

Bertie is a wonderful main character who is both funny, sarcastic, intelligent, and trying to find her way through her changing world. Sometime she can seem rather dense, but we you realize that the only world Bertie knows are those that she sees in the scenes created on stage it is more understandable. What I really loved is that in most coming of age stories the main character is trying to leave, but Bertie wants nothing but to stay in the theater. Bertie is not perfect, she makes mistake, and let her emotions overrun her better judgement, but that is what it is like to be a teenage girl. She is a character that is easy to want to be friends with and to cheer for while she faces the challenges in front of her. 

Now the two male leads in this act are Nate, a minor player from The Little Mermaid, and Ariel from The Tempest. Nate is Bertie's best friend as well as a steady personality while Bertie is all about impulse. Nate obviously cares deeply for Bertie, but it isn't until the play progresses further that we see it might be more then just friendship that the two feel for each other. Nate is by far one of the most likable pirates I have come across in novels and it still breaks my heart when Sedna takes him. That being said, Ariel is my favorite male lead. Ariel was Bertie's childhood playmate until Mrs. Edith told Bertie she could no longer play with him because she feared he had a bad influence on her. He is so human, well as human as an air elemental can be, with both his actions and his wishes. I wish I had words to properly describe Ariel, but there are none for his wonderful and complex character. I can't wait to see how Bertie's relationship with both boys plays out in the other two novels. 

However my favorite characters in the novel are the fairies that are Bertie's companions and best friends. Cobweb, Mustardseed, Peaseblossom, and Moth are players from A Midsummer Night's Dream from Shakespeare. They are the comedic relief, Bertie's support system, and all around difficult to not like. Now I don't remember what the genders are of the fairies in the actually play, if they are specified at all, but I liked how Peaseblossom was the only girl of the many band of fairies. They quickly capture your heart and unlike some other comic relief figures are not just for laughs.

Overall I give this book a 5 out of 5. I wish I could go into more detail, but I refuse to ruin the book for anyone by giving away the end. From a student trying desperately to learn how to write young adult fantasy I am even more deeply in love with the author Lisa Mantchev's work. She creates a world that is so easy to believe even though it makes the most loved characters from plays into a very everyday world. The dialogue is absolutely wonderful and so realistic that this has to be one of the most quotable books I have come across. I can not rave enough about this novel and I can't wait until I get the other books in the series to see how Mantchev pulls the whole story line together. 

Purple Hibiscus

If I had to put my feelings about this book into one word it would be this, rage. Pure and unbridled rage.

The story is centered around Kambili and her brother Jaja. Both children live in a strict catholic family with a father who is not only overbearing, but also abusive. When Kambili and Jaja visit their aunt they are opened to a new world of love and openness that they have never experienced before. While Jaja takes to this new environment right away, Kambili is shy and timid and it takes the provocation of her cousin Amaka and the friendship of the local priest, Father Amadi, for Kambili to finally come out of her shell. When the siblings return to their father's house it is far from a easy transition and soon everything starts to become difficult. 

Why does this novel make me so angry? Because the father is abusive and uses religion to try and justify his horrible actions. He causes his wife to have two miscarriages, breaks his sons finger, burns his daughters feet, beats her until she ends up in the hospital, and yet says it was because of love he does these things. In class some people tried to use the fact that he was an upstanding man in the community to say he wasn't a monster, but I had a hard time the whole novel. ** spoiler alert** When I found out that the mother has poisoned him I might have cheered a little. I don;t care what he did for the community, he brutalized his family and that is unacceptable. 

Overall, I am sure you have guessed, I despised this book and I doubt I will ever pick it up again unless I am forced to for another class. It had nothing to do with the writing of the novel, the imagery was beautiful, but the content. It gets a 1 out of 5

Nervous Conditions

I will get caught up on all these books so help me! Alright the next book I had to read for World Literature in English was Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga.

We finally left India and are now focusing on Africa. This brought on a map quiz of Africa in a literature class, which I wasn't overly happy about, but I think I did alright on it. The novel itself focuses on Tambudzai, referred to as Tambu, and her journey to achieve education. She is born to a lazy father and a poor family, however her Uncle is well educated and wealthy from being taught by the missionaries. Tambu's brother is taken by Babamukuru to the mission and educated, however he dies of an illness while at the mission. Because of this Tambu is given the opportunity to further her education at the mission.

This story isn't just about getting to go to school and learning, it deals with colonization, feminism, religion, and many other complex and difficult issues. Tambu's cousin Nyasha is kind of a teacher that teaches Tambu not to just follow others blindly, but to think for herself. However Nyasha, who lived for five years in England, can not fit into the mold of a proper African girl that Babamukuru wants her to which leads to much hardship for Nyasha.

I rather liked this novel and even though at parts it seemed repeating the same thing and annoying, it had a good message and still interesting. Tambu was a character that you could easily identify with even if you had never been in her situation. It is easy for the reader to get angry with Tambu about how the men at the homestead do nothing, yet they blame everything on lack of money. Overall I will give this novel a 3 out of 5. I wouldn't have picked it up if not for this class, but I am not opposed to reading it again.    

Rich Like Us

Once again I am falling behind in my posting, but I am going to try my best to keep up. Alright so for the most aggravating class this semester, as known as World Literature in English, I have recently had to read Rich Like Us by Nayantara Sahgal.

The novel is told in two point of views, first person when we are following Sonali, and third person when we are with Rose. Rose is and English woman who was taken from her life if hard work in the lower classes for England to India by Ram, who already had a wife. When the reader is following Rose's story we see that though Rose is English she is much more Indian then her own husband and wins the love of both Ram's father, who hates everything English, as well as ram's first wife Mona. However Mona's son Dev, who Rose now lives with due to Ram's stroke, hates Rose. She does not hold her tongue when she sees Dev working with the corrupt government to set up a factory. This brings Sonali into the story who losses her job because she does not approve the factory being brought in from England. Sonali's part of the novel focuses more on current problems in India, such as the Emergency. By intertwining the two characters stories we see both the past and the present easily.

I really don't have much to say about this novel. I didn't hate it, but I didn't exactly like it either. It was an easy read and talked about important issues, yet I couldn't really get into Sonali's part of the narrative, I was much more interested in Rose. This might be because I knew about what Rose was talking about, England and WWII, where as I have little knowledge about the Emergency. If you are interested in India or the Emergency in general I think it is worth a read, but otherwise I don't recommend it. Overall it gets a 2.5 out of 5.