The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier

Of all the books on the list of books to study in the childrens literature course this one struck me as "the boy book" (which is not a complaint as such but there may be a complaint over the general lit course coming). Female characters are there as sex objects, nothing more and I'm pretty sure they speak less than 5 words thoughout the story.

It's a book that I have never read before. It was the second option in high school when my all girls class had to read "boys books" our teacher assigned this one or the Lord of the Flies. I got Flies and from what I heard from the others in the class they sounded like they wanted Flies rather than Chocolate War so I didn't bother looking into it.

The Chocolate War is the story of an all boys Catholic high school complete with sadistic priests, secret societies and hazing rituals that get out of control quickly. Each year students of Trinity need to sell a quota of fund-raising else they get into trouble from their teachers and the secret society. It is the story of one boys rebellion against the system that treats him and his freshman classmates unfairly. Jerry Renault is assigned by the "Vigils" to spend 10 days refusing the quota of chocolates that he's supposed to sell. On the eleventh day he's supposed to agree to sell. But he refuses on principle. At that point the rest of the boys at the school turn on him. From the grudging respect he is initially given from the rest of the school boys to when he pushes to far and they turn on him and things turn even worse for Jerry.

Caught in the mess of his own making is Archie the head of "The Vigils" who initially assigns him the task of refusing the chocolates and then has to deal with the consequences when students begin to pull out of the sale and follow Jerry's lead. Archie is held responsible by Father Leon. The acting head of the school who is cruel, and hard on the boys. He is almost sadistic in nature and takes pleasure in picking out boys to humiliate and bully each day.

Jerry's actions illuminate the corruption that underlies everything in the school. It is insidious and running through every aspect of school life.

The ending of the story is sudden and horrific. I'd be interested in reading the sequel to see how it goes but it leaves you wondering if Jerry is going to survive the ordeal he has faced.

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry - Mildred D. Taylor

When the course structure was first released the lit students looked into what books we got to study over the 4 years of learning to be a High School English teacher.  Sdly the initial list was disapointing to nearly the entire class who looked into it mainly because the books were by dead, white, old men.  First years subjects were Classic English Literature so it consisted of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne and Milton.  Contemporary Children's Literature was next and in that one we got several female writers and based on the structure of the time our one indigenous author Doris Pilkington when we studied Beyond the Rabbit Proof Fence. 

Now that i've seen the newer list of childrens books there is actually one more by a non-white author.  And that is this book.  I'm sure I studied this book in high school but none of it came back to me as I was reading it so it seemed like a fresh book to me.  It was powerful, brilliant and sad.  It is the story of Cassie, a 9 year old black girl living in Mississippi in the 1930's.  Racism and prejudice are still well ingrained in the South and with the exception of young Jeremy who tries to befriend Cassie and her brothers and Mr Jamieson who supports the African American community as best he can there is nothing positive to say about the white characters.

Cassie and her family on the other hand are wonderful.  Her mother is strong willed and proud of her family and her position as teacher at the local school for black children, her grandmother is warm and supportive - working their land and giving advice to the children and trying to shelter them from the world at the same time as trying to show them how to get by in it with as little trouble as possible.  Cassie's father is often away trying to make money so that the family can keep their land but when he is at home he is a powerful and well respected man of his community.  His parents bought the land they are living on the first 200 acres outright and the next 200 is mortgaged so he's always worried about taxes and the bills involved in keeping his land but he does not want to ever lose it.  The connection to the land is important to the whole family who are proud to have something that is their own.  Considering David's father and mother were born into slavery this is an important symbol for them.

The racial conflicts are constant.  The book opens with a "burning" and there are references to "night men" and lynchings throughout the story.  When Cassie's Uncle Hammer returns in a big car that is his own her grandmother worries that it will anger the white community who cannot afford such things and instead bring them down to hurt him and "put him back in his place".  Hammer's temper is often spoken of and when trouble brews up the most he is quickly told to leave town rather than stay and exacerbate the problems even more.

The other books I have read for the childrens course have all been aimed at the under 10 age group.  This is definitely for older readers and I found it both enjoyable and interesting.  It's beautifully written and a book that I would have no problems teaching a high school class out of.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

Still quickly running though childrens books and still avoiding Australian Lit.  Mainly i'm blaming Ebay and the seller who I bought off last week.  I really want to start with that book but it still hasn't arrived yet so it's obviously a sign that I should continue with childrens lit. 


Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is another of the books that I loved as a child so coming back to it as an adult was interesting.  I get that there are issues with the original publication and yeah it's racist and wrong to be talking about the Oompa Loompas as African Pygmies being paid in Cocao beans but since the re-release with Quentin Bryce's new illustrations I kinda forgot all about that.  Wrong of me I know but it didn't occur till I checked Wikipedia because I was sure I remembered Charlie tasting a sweet that wasn't in my book (turns out it's from the movie). 

This one is really different to both Alice and Wizard because I have no emotional connection to the movie.  I saw the Gene Wilder version growing up but I didn't love.  I really enjoyed the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version but that was more because I am a fan of both Burton and Depp but the book has always been foremost in my mind.

Is it a great book?  Probably not but it is fun and enjoyable and the Buckets are sweet and the greedy kids getting their comeuppance is well timed and perfectly mean and Willy himself is crazy as a loon but I really do wish there were more like him in the world.  And yeah I still love the Oompa Loompa songs. 

I'm thinking that once i've done the books I might have to do a re-watch of all the movies as well just to see how different they seem to me now.

Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum

This was in most ways a really easy read and in some ways hard.  I grew up on the movie of the Wizard of Oz and still know it pretty much word for word.  I think I read the book at some point in my childhood but that has been at least 20 years and since then i've also read all of Gregory Maguire's re-imaginings of Oz and have seen the musical "Wicked" a ridiculous amount of times.  So as much as she terrified me as a child I now think of the Wicked Witch as Elphie and really do love her.  That said the Wizard always annoyed me even as a child so that hasn't changed much from incarnation to the next.

I do love this book and I love the characters.  Unlike the problems I have with Alice (in Wonderland) I really do love Dorothy as a character - even when I'm wanting to scream lines from Wicked at her ("Who takes a dead womans shoes?  Must've been raised in a barn!").  She's sweet, she's likable and despite being used by the Wizard she really is forgiving and nice.  I love the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman and the Cowardly Lion as well and while part of that comes from having loved the movie versions of them I think mostly it's because they are written so well.

But as I said both the musical Wizard of Oz and Wicked have kinda warped my mind on all things Oz.  I want to cheer for the Wicked Witch.  I want to call the Wizard a manipulative tool (which to be fair he kind of is), I forgot that Boq actually is in the book and I really do love him in this and Maguire's version of him as well (the musical version I don't particularly like) so it was good to get back to where Oz began and to remind myself of the original version.  That said i'm still going to have a hell of a lot of fun when it gets to studying this one in class.

Next I think I should actually try some Australian fiction.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

Still reading the Childrens fiction list as opposed to the Australian fiction because these ones are way more fun.  Besides a lot of these i've read before and know pretty well so it's more a case of re-reading quickly so I can gather some thoughts as opposed to plodding through and analysing a text.

To start with I have to say I'd really like the drugs Lewis Carroll was on cause seriously this book is weird.  I mean I loved it as a child but now that i'm reading it as an adult it just sounds like the most intense drug trip ever.  Then again anything with randomly anthropomorphised animals strikes me as trippy and more than a little wrong Similar case in point... Wicked.  I love Wicked but there are some bits of that book I never want to read again (yes Animal Orgy chapter I'm thinking of you).  And while I loved Alice when I was a child now as an adult I thinks she's irritating, annoying and far too spoiled for her own good. 

Still there are characters and bits that I love.  I love the imagery of playing croquet with hedgehogs and flamingos.  I love the nonsense poetry and all the plays on words in it.  And the Hatter, Cheshire Cat and the Caterpillar are awesome. 

Getting back to the book was interesting because while I have read it I've since seen several adaptations and re-imaginings.  They range from the Disney cartoon, to the live action tv miniseries and finally to last years Tim Burton film which I completely loved.  And I think that is the main source of my problem with the character Alice.  I wanted Mia Wasikowska's Alice who is capable and thoughtful and brave and who gets to slay the Jabberwock and takes charge of her life and escapes for adventures.  I forgot that Alice is a little girl who is dreamy and whiny and confused by her situation and usually thinks far too highly of herself. 

So it was interesting to get back too.  Next I think will be Wizard of Oz where I will have far more problems thanks to Gregory Maguire and my love of Elphaba.

For reference - Book lists for Uni Subjects

Possible list for 214 (Possible because Lecturer has retired and new list won't be confirmed for the new year). ETA - Possible list has now become the definite list thanks to the co-op bookshops book list which means I also have the list of books for COM 327 that also need to be read.

•  Barnes, John, (1986, rpt 2000) The Penguin Henry Lawson Short Stories, Penguin.
•  Clarke, Marcus, (1874, rpt 2002), His Natural Life Angus & Robertson.
•  Hardy, Frank, (1950, rpt 2000), Power Without Glory Vintage.
•  Kinsella, John, (2009) The New Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry, Penguin
•  Lord, Mary, (ed.) (2000 rev. ed.) The Penguin Best Australian Short Stories, Penguin.
•  Stead, Christina, (1934. rpt 1999) Seven poor men of Sydney, Imprint ETT.
•  White, Patrick, (1979, rpt 1995) The Twyborn affair, Vintage. 

COM 327 list

Shane Maloney - The Brush Off
Harvey Petak - American Splendor
Susan Orleans - The Orchid Thief
Miles Franklin - My Brilliant Career
Jane Austen - Pride an Prejudice

Probable list for 316

Title: Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales
Author: Andersen

Title: Peter Pan (Puffin Classics)
Author: Barrie


Title: Wizard Of Oz
Author: Baum, L FrankTitle: The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader"
Author: C.S. Lewis
 
Title: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
Author: Carroll
 
Title: Breaktime: Dance On My Grave
Author: Chambers, Aidan

Title: Chocolate War
Author: Cormier

Title: Wolf
Author: Cross


Title: Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
Author: DahlTitle: Dear Nobody
Author: Doherty


Title: Wind In The Willows
Author: Grahame, Kenneth

Title: Grimms' Fairy Tales
Author: Grimm Brothers

Title: King Solomon's Mines
Author: Haggard

Title: Love Ghosts & Nose Hair
Author: Herrick
Title: The Catcher In The Rye
Author: J D Salinger Title: Playing Beatie Bow
Author: Ruth Park

Title: Coral Island
Author: R M Ballantyne

Title: Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry
Author: Taylor
 
Title: Hobbit ( Centenary Edition)
Author: Tolkien

Title: Seven Little Australians
Author: Turner

 For anyone interested - Bolded books I have.  Italicised books I have read/re-read over summer.  While i've read a heap of the childrens books it's been so long that re-reads of all are needed.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - CS Lewis

Despite the fact I read a lot as a child and read a lot of fantasy novels I never read any of The Chronicles of Narnia.  When the movie of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe came out I made sure I read it first and started to read the whole set but got distracted.  I always try and read it before seeing the movie though and since this is on the Children's fiction book list for next year and the movie is out in 3 weeks I figured I might as well get it out of the way.

To me it seems like a simple quest narrative.  King wants to go see/find/do/fight something.  King goes off to do it bringing with him loyal subjects.  King does it.  THey all return home and celebrations occur.  In this book the quest is to rescue the seven missing lords and to see the end of the world.  Returning to Narnia are Lucy and Edmund Pevensie to help King Caspian and coming through the painting was their cousin Eustace.  Eustace possibly shows the biggest growth in the book going from irritating spoilt brat to a decent human being (by way of a turning into a dragon - literally).

There's not much to say about the book beyond I liked it.  I can see why the Chronicles are considered classics of childrens fiction and I really do love Lucy and Edmund.  I think my problem getting through some of the other Chronicles was the lack of Pevensies but before they do the next movies I'll have to at least try them again. 

It's hard not to compare this to the trailers for Dawn Treader that I have seen over the last couple of weeks and I think they've added a lot of story to it.  I'm just hoping they haven't cut a lot of the good stuff to make way for it.

El Dorado - Dorothy Porter

My best friend has been telling me for years that I need to read Dorothy Porter’s poetry and particularly her verse novels.  Considering this is on the list for a lit subject i’m thinking of taking next year I began with this one.  I’ve read verse novels before and I’m kind of on the fence about them.  I don’t always like poetry so an entire book made up of the stuff is sometimes too much.  “El Dorado” blew me away.   It is tense, confronting and brilliant with the very distinct voices of the characters building and their friendship unravelling before coming back together while the plot unfolds around them.  

Children are being murdered but their deaths look peaceful and they are buried in a ritualistic manner that seems respectful and all are left with gold on their forehead.  Letters have been sent to the newspaper signed El Dorado claiming they are rescuing and saving children not killing them.   Bill is the detective in charge of the case and is a “good Aussie Bloke” he is a single father whose best friend is Cath – who works in Hollywood but keeps coming home for a dose of reality.  She sees things in a way that Bill can’t so he brings her in to help with his case. 

The poems switch perspective from Bill to Cath both of whom have interesting ways to see things.  Bill is a jaded cop, he’s tough, and under pressure from his bosses to sort this out.  Cath is a creative free spirit who throughout the story falls in love with a woman much younger than she is which is causing her to question everything. 

The mystery of who is killing these children is central to pretty much everything including Cath’s building romance.  The killer leaves signs that they are linked to Bill and Cath’s childhood together making them question each other and the past.  To say any more would be to give far too much away but simply put this book is brilliant and i’m adding the rest of Dorothy Porter’s works to my list of books to read.

“Once”, “Then” and “Now” vs “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”

This summer i’m going to be helping out at the local library with the young adult reading group so I thought I should read a bunch of young adult novels so that I knew what to recommend. Who am I kidding? I read a heap of young novels anyway it’s just that I know I have a better excuse for it. I saw Boy in the Striped Pyjamas last year at the movies and have been trying to read John Boyne’s book since but i’ve never quite gotten around to it. Then I found out about Morris Gleitzman’s “Once”, “Then” and “Now” trilogy and decided I wanted to read them first.

“Once” is set in 1942. It is the story of Felix a 9 year old Polish Jew. Felix’s parents were booksellers so he tells the story of his life as if it’s one of the tales he knows. His parents left him at the catholic orphanage with the nuns because they needed him to be safe. He begins the story optimistic after finding a whole carrot in his soup which he decides is a sign from his parents that they are coming for him so he leaves the orphanage to meet them. Outside he is confronted by the real world that includes soldiers who shoot at him, a 6 year old orphan named Zelda who he befriends after rescuing her from a burning building, books that are being burnt and not cherished as his parents would like and that Adolf Hitler is not the “great man” that the nuns taught him he was. Felix and Zelda end up in the Warsaw Ghetto where Felix finds people like him who tell stories of “death camps” and trains that go to them.

“Then” is a year later after Felix and Zelda escape the ghetto and the train to the death camp. They escape to the countryside where they find a sympathetic woman who shelters them on her farm. And “Now” is set in modern Australia about Felix’s granddaughter Zelda and shows how Felix grew up to fulfil his promise of “being the best human being he could be”. He is a retired surgeon and Zelda has come to stay for the summer while her parents are in Africa.

These three books are brilliant. Felix and Zelda (both original and junior versions) are vibrant, believable characters who face problems but keep looking for the best in the world. They grow through bad situations and are completely changed by them but the best of them remains. Even as a grandfather Felix tells stories and the little boy who escapes the orphanage is in him he’s just older and wiser now. Morris Gleitzman has stated that these books are fiction and “came from imagination” but his grandfather was a Polish Jew from Krakow who left Poland safely before the war... his extended family didn’t. So there is realism to his writing and a respect for the history and the characters he has created.

On the other hand “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” is about Bruno. Like Felix he is 9 unlike Felix he is the son of a German officer who works for “The Fury” and has just been sent to “Out-With”. After Felix who grew and learnt and lost his innocence Bruno is hard to take. He acts far younger than 9 and shows no understanding of the world. I get that kids can be sheltered but for a 9 year old German to not know “The Fuhrer” and not understand why Schmuel the young boy from “out-with” who he speaks to through the fence at the back of his new house isn’t allowed out to play with him just seems too much. At one stage the two boys compare the symbols that Schmuel wears on his arm to the one Bruno’s father wears. Schmuel explains he wears the star because he is a Jew which leads Bruno to wonder if he could be Jewish and why his father wears the spidery symbol instead. I see what John Boyne’s is trying to do and when the book ends it ends powerfully and horribly but it just doesn’t work for me. And i’m not sure if that’s because of reading it so soon after Gleitzman’s trilogy or if it would’ve been the same if I had read it first. Although I do remember Bruno bugging me with his ridiculous questions in the movie as well.