My Soap Box

OK people. I was watching Digging for the Truth on the History Channel, and I have to say this for all of the people who don't understand what a novel is: A novel is FICTION, and fiction is NOT REAL! Now that that is all clear, I am going to harp some more. Dan Brown is a novelist, and he writes OH YES, NOVELS! His book is not a bible, a textbook, an aid to the bible or any other sort of reference material concerning a possible holy bloodline or grail. Digging for the Truth is a good show, but when they, and multiple other weekly hour-long documentary type shows boast of 'disproving' Dan Brown's novel, that is like saying, "I proved that if an anvil really fell on Wiley Coyote, he would die, so Loony Tunes is wrong!" Well, congratulations, you just disproved a cartoon! The Da Vinci Code is a very good book. I think Mr. Brown would agree with me when I say that it is meant to be read that way-- as a novel. Maybe I will call him and see.... I have been reading a witness statement that he wrote, all 69 pages of it, and it is very good. It gives a lot of good information about his life, and his career as an author. You can download it here, but he states that if his novel makes people seek knowlege, that makes him happy. If his book serves as a catalyst for good theological discussions, that is great, but it isn't to be taken as a textbook. That is why he included the FACT, to clear up all the confusion. Heed his word.

Nat'l Book Critics Circle Awards

The winners of the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Awards have been announced.

Fiction: The March by E.L. Doctorow. Doctorow also won an NBCC Prize in. 1989 for Billy Bathgate. The March has won the PEN/Faulkner fiction award and was shortlisted for the National Book Award.

General Nonfiction: Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich

Biography: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

Autobiography**: Them: A Memoir of Parents by Francine du Plessix Gray .

Poetry: Refusing Heaven by Jack Gilbert and Criticism: The Undiscovered Country: Poetry in the Age of Tin by William Logan

The NBCC also awarded the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award to Bill Henderson, founder of the Pushcart Press, editor of the annual Pushcart Prize anthology and trumpet player extraordinaire.

The Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing went to Wyatt Mason, a contributor to Harper's, the New Yorker and the New Republic.

**The autobiography category is new this year.

Da Vinci Trial Closing

The Da Vinci Code trial is coming to an end. The authors of 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail' are suing Random House for plagiarism, claiming that Dan Brown copied the idea for Jesus to have married Mary Magdalene, having children, and leaving a surviving heir, from their non-fiction book with the same idea. Dan Brown took the stand, as well as several others. The judge said that a verdict will be handed down by the end of the court's session, on April 13th. I will update more when the verdict is passed.

Book of the Year Honors

These books didn't win the number one slot, but were given honorable mention.
2006 Book Sense Book of the Year Honor Books:
Adult Fiction::
• Kafka on the Shore: A Novel, by Haruki Murakami
• The March: A Novel, by E.L. Doctorow
• Saturday: A Novel, by Ian McEwan
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel, by Lisa See
Adult Nonfiction:
• The Glass Castle: A Memoir, by Jeannette Walls
• The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece, by Jonathan Harr
• Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog, by John Grogan
• The Tender Bar: A Memoir, by J.R. Moehringer
Children's Literature:
• A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray, by Ann M. Martin
• Eldest: Inheritance, Book 2, by Christopher Paolini
• Flush, by Carl Hiaasen• The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits,... by Jeanne Birdsall
Children's Illustrated:
• Diary of a Spider, by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Harry Bliss
• Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert, illustrated by Lois Ehlert
• Leonardo, The Terrible Monster, by Mo Willems, illustrated by Mo Willems
• Seen Art?, By Jon Scieszka; illustrated by Lane Smith

Congratulations to all of these outstanding authors!!!

Book of the Year Awards

I found the results of the 2006 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards. They are..
{envelope ripped open}

Adult Fiction: The Historian , by Elizabeth Kostova

Adult Nonfiction: Freakonomics , by Levitt & Dubner

Children's Literature: Inkspell, by Cornelia Funke

Children's Illustrated: Zen Shorts, by Jon Muth

{applause}

I am sorry to say I know not of these books. The only one I have read is The Historian, and I have to say, it was very good. I read it while in Italy, Turkey, and Greece over fall break. Good times. I will probably do my own review on it in a while, but here is a link to what Amazon had written. I find the varying reviews submitted on this book very interesting, and wonder how my own will turn out. Amazon's reviews start out all bad, but at the end they get more positive. If you have a comment about this book, please feel free to email it to me, and I will be sure to post it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

I personally don't like this holiday, and think it is a bit immature. The problem with it is if you don't wear green, you will end up being pinched by everyone at school. So, today I traded my UK hoodie for a blue shirt with some green in it. Oh well.

I feel like just randomly commenting on some odd things. I really wanted to get a Live Green Go Yellow t-shirt from GM, with their new Ethanol-85 alternate fuel source, and they are out. They say they are making more, and I want one as soon as they do, but while I was looking for the shirt I saw a neat e-card. They have a tractor, and a UFO. You use them to write a message in the corn. This is the link, just go to the 'get stuff' tab, and select the e-card. Very fun. Watch for the t-shirt, and when they put the link up, you get a free one for your name and email address.

The Kite Runner -- Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner is an exhilarating read. This novel was an original work, not just a borrowed plot from another successful book. I got very attached to the characters in this book. There are places in this book that are horrible in their reality, and others that are simply beautiful.

The story starts in urban Afghanistan, following the lives of two boys, one a poor servant, and the other the wealthy privileged child. The privileged child, Amir, is more of an intellectual, academic child, whereas Hassan, the servant child, can't afford school, and is left to having Amir read to him from his books. The two are good friends until a terrifying incident in an alley with the neighborhood bullies builds a barrier between them, a barrier of Amir's guilt. The celebrated overthrow of the Afghan Monarch, and the takeover by the Taliban is wonderfully interwoven with the plot.

I can't really give you much else without spoiling some part of the book. I would recommend this book to people over at least 14 because of the sheer magnitude of the actions of some characters. The end was good, and I can't think of a single string left untied. When I got to the end of the first section, I thought that would be the end of that story line, but not to fear, EVERYTHING comes back. This book was amazing in the way that all ends of the story fit together. It's like when you are working a Sudoku puzzle, and you get one number, and all of the sudden, ten more numbers fall into place. This book was excellent, and was definitely worth reading.