Redefining Happiness and Truth

I knew it would only be a matter of time before this blog inevitably came back to books. We've just read Brave New World in English and now we're discussing it. It's one heck of a strange read, let me tell you, but there's a lot of interesting concepts that can be drawn from it. There's nothing like a strange, futuristic world that has nothing to do with you to make you reflect on your own situation.

A big topic of discussion in today's class was the concept of dystopia versus utopia. Of course, over all, to us, the novel is definitely dystopic. People are enslaved by their conditioning and their own contentment, meanwhile human nature is being systematically denied and controlled, and the entire world is run by 10 World Controllers. But to the majority of people in that world, is it really bad? If happiness is all we live for, why should they fight a government that serves to make them happy? Can they be truly happy if they don't know what it's like to not be happy? If all the factors for happiness are present, and they're told they're happy, are they actually happy? It's a mind-boggling concept. And of course, what makes truth? If we believe something to be true, does that make it a fact or only a belief? People believed the world was flat once, and accepted that to be true. And why shouldn't they? Who knows what humbug we believe today that future scholars will laugh at us for? Maybe the sky isn't blue. Who ever looked at the sky and said, "That's a nice colour, I'm going to call it B-L-U-E. Bloo. That sounds good." To be honest, "bloo" is a strange word. We believe our planet exists in a system of planets that rotates around a giant, burning, glowy orb, and yet most of us have no concrete proof of it. Sure, reliable scientists tell us there's proof out there, but we've never seen it for ourselves. We believe it because we've been raised to know it's true.

We found it very hard, in class, to separate ourselves as readers from the perspective of Brave New World's general population. To us, their world is an incomplete, machine-like place. But to them, there's nothing wrong with it. As individuals, they have a good life: They're happy, safe, entertained and healthy. It's only at the larger level that things start to get problematic, and the sacrifices, dangers and hypocrisy come to light. That's why Huxley's imagined government would be so effective: On a whole, they wouldn't have to control rebellion very much, because nobody would have any motivation to rebel. Of course, there are exceptions, but that's what the book is there for.

It's been an interesting topic, and book, to discuss. And it's only gonna get more crazy from here, kids.

Leaping to a Thousand Fires

Recently, I've been struggling to keep up with things. There always seems to be something else that needs doing, more work I haven't finished yet. I have a list of 5 books that I need to read, two of them are library books, one is for class and another is my best friend's. In fact, the only book I own is the one I'm reading right now and really don't need to be putting first: The Diviners. But alas! I have practically no time to read! When I'm not at rehearsal (which is just sitting around being bored, really, but I need to be there) I have homework, and when I'm done with that I need to clean up the mess that continues to pile up, and after that I need to catch up on the sleep I'm missing.

The problem here, of course, is that what I'm doing is trying to stay on top of things. I'm putting out fires. I'm getting assignments done the night before they're due and I'm only managing to clear enough stuff out of my room so that I can see my floor. There's a constant queue of things ahead of me on my to-do list and I feel like I'm always forgetting yet another thing that should be on that list. Sometimes, I do forget. Within the past one and a half weeks, I've had my dad come to pick me up twice, only to drive straight back home because I forgot to tell him I wasn't going somewhere. It's those kinds of little things that just keep slipping through my grasp, and it's frustrating, because I feel bad (because it's affecting other people and/or it's not being done) and because I'm scared that one of these days, what I forget about will be something huge and devastatingly major. And especially this year, I can't afford for anything like that to happen.

Speaking of which, that's my other problem. In being consumed by the mundane, immediate things, I don't have any energy or time left for bigger things, like keeping track of scholarship deadlines and university application dates. This year I need to be thinking about my future, but how can I do that when all I'm able to do is face one week at a time? I can't build a bridge while putting out fires.

In a rare bout of screw-everything-I-need-time-to-not-do-anything recently, I watched Moulin Rouge! and LOVED it. It's fantastically done all around, but I must say this was my absolute favourite part:

The arrangement is perfect, the singing is awesome, the acting is heartbreaking, and the staging is spectacular. As the movie's climax, it's many people's favourite. It just blows my mind. And Jacek Koman's powerful, gravelly voice is wonderful and really perfect in this. It could never have been as good without his singing. Plus Ewan McGregor is a babe. But everyone already knew that.

I'm thinking of putting music at the end of my posts more often. It's fun. This one is a video because it's equally stunning visually as it is in terms of music.

My, was I surprised

I got the giant project done! Well, at least for now. Mind you, I did work until 2 am the night before it was due. But in my defense I had a really full schedule earlier this week. Still do, actually.

But it's done! It's a GIANT weight off my shoulders, and now all I need to do is get a reference letter, a career interview and make the whole thing look nice in time for the presentation, which is in November.

Now, of course, I have to move on to other things! I have way too much too read, as ever, and I need to get on some scholarship applications. Also, I need to contact the director of the Theatre Royale in Barkerville. I was going to contact him about auditioning for next summer, but unfortunately I believe I'm going to have to change my reason for contacting him to letting him know I won't be able to do it this year, because as far as I can tell, rehearsals start before I graduate. Hopefully I'll be able to do it when I'm at university next year though, because my school year will have ended sooner.

Ah, I do love Fridays. Well, okay, I don't love today, because it's really busy and it didn't start out well, but I love the fact that it's Friday and the fact that it being Friday means that the weekend is nearly nigh! I'm really looking forward to this weekend, because I'm going windowshopping with Tee tomorrow morning, and then my mom and I are going to a fancy resort for the weekend. There's spa stuff and nice things there. It's hella expensive, but it's been my mom's idea from the get-go and I've warned her about that fact multiple times, so I'm absolving myself of responsibility.

One wonderful thing that happened today was that Libba Bray tweeted to me today!!!!!!!! AAAAHHH I CAN'T CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT I APOLOGIZE FOR BLATANT IMMATURE FANGIRLING BUT I'M NOT SORRY! I actually couldn't contained myself this morning when I saw it. I'm going to blame my excitement about this for my being 20 minutes late to class this morning, because "I missed the 10 o'clock bus for no reason" is just too pathetic to admit.

"she says, HOPEFULLY" HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS MY IDOL WAS HOPEFUL ABOUT ME BEING THERE OR SOMETHING I LITERALLY CANNOT

Also I'd like to mention that we share the same favourite swearword. It was my favourite even before Beauty Queens and before I figured out it was her favourite but then those things just solidified my preference. I mean, that's a really weird and kind of pathetic thing to have in common with your hero but it's a really great word and also it's not the only thing about her that I identify with.
(the word is shit)

And I will leave you now with one of the greatest songs I know.

There is a story behind this. Not a story as to how I discovered the song, or the wonderful, miraculous band (it started with Tap Tap Revenge a few years ago and it's just been a beautiful love affair since then), but a story of now, and why I thought of this particular song today.

In English, we're discussing Brave New World and genetic modification was mentioned. My best friend, who sits beside me, prompted me about this song (we've both been obsessed for a long time). All their music is mindblowing and perfect and makes me really happy. Especially this song. It's wonderful, because it takes the concept of artificial alteration, and all its serious connotations, and sort of treats it very concisely, eloquently and with a sort of semi-comical removedness that's very refreshing. At the same time, it's extremely intimate, relevant and emotional. It just beautiful, intense, holy-crap-inducing stuff. (this post's title is a lyric from this song)

A Jungle of Words and Stories

In my last English class, we were asked to write a paragraph about what makes a good book. Fantastic!, I thought, I have all these feelings about books! The only problem was, of course, tht I was restricted by formal language and it having to be a single paragraph. And, you know, it would be a bit awkward to happy-rant about awesome book things on a document I had to hand in to my teacher. But here, I can do whatever I want! I can disregard all of society's expectations and restrictions! Of course, I choose to use this freedom to talk about books. (not rebellious enough? Ok: oogeli-poop. There you go. I wouldn't put that on an essay. Satisfied?)

Because I work in a bookstore, I have a pretty good idea of what books are good and what qualifies a book as being good. I also know that there are vastly different opinions on this front. So let me change that to "I have a pretty good idea of what books most people consider good and what usually qualifies a book as being popularly thought of as good or worthwhile." (That sentence had more political correctness in it than everything I've written this schoolyear put together) There's a very palpable difference between people saying "Oh, yeah, that was a good book, I enjoyed it," and the reaction of "Oh my God, that book was so fantastic! I loved it, it was great!" And then there's the books that don't even get a verbal reaction, more of a slight grimace and a "Yeeeaahh... it was... all right." The good books are usually the ones that sell steadily, the ones people have heard of and of which we usually have at least one copy in the store. The great books are the ones everyone has heard of, that people have heard fantastic things about, the books of which we have a gazillion copies, so many that even after filling their space on the shelf and the bestseller display, we still have so many copies to put away that we have no idea what to do with them all. And the bad books... well, you can just talk to a bookseller, and they'll get a knowing glint in their eye, even while saying, "Oh, they're not that bad, if that's your kind of thing." You can't say that bookstore workers don't try to justify literature. But, you know, you don't want to have to justify it.

But honestly, let's think about what a good book should be about, what most people hold important in a good book. For most people, that factor is entertainment. (for the purpose of this blogpost, I'm excluding things like textbooks or dictionaries or inspirational books. Chicken Soup For The Soul or The Four Agreements don't have to be entertaining, but they're still good. The Secret is, however, entertaining in its concept. But then I don't know how good it is, because I've never wanted to read it) Whether stories hold deep meaning or morals, they still need to entertain and captivate the reader in order for the reader to be interested. Something is interesting = you're interested. Duh. Nobody's going to care about a book if it's not intriguing or relevant to them. And they're also not going to enjoy reading it.

I'm not even going to belabour how important good writing is in a good book, because it's pretty straightforward: You write poorly, your book's not going to be very good. Before you say anything, ladies and gentlemen, 50 Shades and Twilight are POPULAR. They're not widely considered to be GOOD. Sometimes consumer society is moronic. Look at reality television.

Now, I don't have the magic formula or exact definition of what makes a book great and sets it apart from books that are simply good. That issue is too complex, individual and dependent on specific people's preferences to be concluded with a definite answer. But from what I've seen, and what I've experienced myself, is that truly great books give us something to connect with. They're relevant to life and humanity, they can make valid and true observations about the world we live in, and they can make us think.

But it's really all an adventure! The only way you're going to find out if a book is good or great or terrible is if you read it. Because everybody's definition of those categories is completely different, be it because of standards, or preferences or just plain old I-like-it-ness. That's what's so fantastic about books.

I Do My Work With My Flapper On

My queen/hero/idol has returned to me! Libba Bray's new book, The Diviners came out last tuesday, and of course I picked it up at work as soon as possible (I'd been anticipating the date for ages). In fact, I came to the store before they'd even properly received it. But it was there, and that's all that's important.

I haven't finished it yet (there's simply not enough time in my life these days) but I'm about halfway through. It's exciting, and a lot creepier than her last adventure in historical fiction (I'm talking about the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, you peasants). I'm realizing that her writing style and approach to stories is very much suited to a murder mystery. Particularly when the murder involves strange rituals, a demonic psychopath killer, and the Occult. It's all sorts of awesome, and I can't wait to see how it ends, not only because I want to figure out what happens, but because I know she's going to somehow turn it around and bend my mind into strange formations. Because that's classic Libba Bray. It's just how she rolls.

At the same time, I want it to draw out forever, because it's been so long since I had new Libba Bray material to read. There's something about her writing and the way her brain works that just makes me super happy. She just gets it. Countless times, I've read something she's written and realize she's put exactly what I feel into words. The most brilliant, beautiful, elegant, sharp words that I could never have come up with. Basically, she's everything I want to be in life. No big deal.

As ever, I have a long list of books I want to read once I'm done with Diviners. I was attempting to read Kate Chopin's The Awakening (at the recommendation of my best friend aka flawless feminist badass) before I was interrupted by Diviners, so I'll return to that first. I also recently saw a really interesting-looking book at work, Michael Poore's Up Jumps The Devil, so I'll be looking in to that. Other than those, my priority books to read are probably going to be Watchmen, Perks of Being a Wallflower, House of Leaves, rereading The Hobbit, and maybe possibly some of the stuff overcrowding my bookshelf. I work in a bookstore, for heavens sake; I am in constant frustration over the fact that I can't read all the books I see at work (Ok, maybe not ALL of them... I'm looking at you, 50 Shades. Looking at you through eyes squinted with suspicion and judgment).

I'm thinking I'll probably make another post once I'm finished this book. Remembering my past experiences, I'm guessing it'll be a lot of fangirling and squealing.