Diana Wynne Jones

It is with very heavy heart that I present the news that Diana Wynne Jones has passed. The reason that I consider this such heavy news is that Diana is, without a doubt, my all-time favorite author. You may have noticed that in previous posts I refer to authors by their last names, but I feel like Diana has worked her way into my life so well that I can call her by her first name. Diana has created some of the most original and dynamic worlds that I have ever visited, all created through her words. While I have met at most 5 other people in this world who know the genius of Diana Wynne Jones, I nonetheless will remain an avid supporter of her works; I just regret that I didn't get to read all of her books before she died, nor did I ever write her any bit of fan mail. I ran across one of her books in a local bookstore when I was in late middle/early high school, and because it had a cat and the quote "If you're missing Harry, try Diana!" on the cover. I was indeed missing Harry [Potter], and I absolutely love cats, so I decided to try out the book. I didn't read the book for over a year, however, but once I had my wisdom teeth out, I was incapacitated for about a week. I finished reading 600 of the 700+ pages in The Dragonbone Chair, a book that I had been struggling with for over 5 months (I started it in April and had only read 100 pages by August. If you know me, that tells you how much trouble I had making any progress in it. The only other book to compare is The Fellowship of the Ring, in which I got to 100 pages but then spent months trying to get past the walking. And the walking and walking. Let's not forget the walking, followed by the walking. Then they walked for a while. Then they arrived at shelter, followed by a bit more walking. Enough, Tolkien! Anyway, I digress). Once I finished The Dragonbone Chair, I was looking for something else to read, and I settled on The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, v. 1 by Diana Wynne Jones. Rarely have I so rabidly devoured a book! In less than a day, I had finished both stories contained within. I had to have more. I started scouring bookstores for Diana books, to little avail. But what I could find, I loved.

Over the years, I managed to find a few of her books here and there, and even went so far as to purchase one of her books (The Merlin Conspiracy) in a Canadian airport when I came across it, for several more dollars than I would have paid in America (yes, including the conversion rate). But it wasn't until about two to three months ago that I found some of her books in the SLIS library here at UW, including a book (Archer's Goon) that has been out of print for several years. I was sitting at a table near the computer lab when I looked up and noticed her name. Thank goodness she was on the end of a shelf of books, or I doubt I would have even noticed! Upon further inspection, they had nearly and entire shelf of her works, and I know that I will be checking out several more of those books that I haven't been able to find elsewhere yet.

So, let this serve as my bit of an elegy to Diana Wynne Jones, a fantastic and fantastical writer who will forever remain among my top authors or perhaps even as my favorite author, as I don't foresee anyone else moving ahead of her anytime soon. Rest in peace, DWJ.

Diana Wynne Jones, Aug. 16, 1934-Mar. 26, 2011

Anna Karenina

Wow, what a great book. I know I probably sound pompous: you've all seen facebook friends whose favorite books are 1984 and Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby. I've read them all. None of them is that good. Let me repeat: 1984, Pride and Prejudice, and The Great Gatsby are not amazing books! They're well-written. They have some "fun" characters (I use the term loosely, because I really don't know how to describe Elizabeth Bennett and Jay Gatsby). They may provide some amusement along the way. But how many of us really like reading deep pieces? How many of us want to read a book in our leisure time because it's going to make us think? Let's be honest: NONE OF US. We read books to escape! We read books for pleasure! Enough of the pretentiousness that most intellectual-like Americans aspire to. Let's be honest: most of these books are boring! They don't give us plot; and when they're just here to give us intellectual stimulation, we stop reading them! I challenge most of my facebook friends to justify why they "like" most of the classic books that they do; I doubt they have justifiable reason. I've read half the books they like, and as I've said before, they're boring!

But enough of that, Anna Karenina is a great book. I must admit, I read it over the course of several months, so my citations are rather week and my overall impression of the book isn't altogether solid. But I do know that I enjoyed the book the whole time I was reading it. In particular, I've recently become acquainted with the last 200-or-so pages of the book. I must say, I have rarely been as passionate about a book as I have been about these last 200 pages. I WANTED ANNA TO DIE! I had the misfortune of having a roommate to glibly mentioned that Anna dies when I was a mere 100 pages into the book (trust me, this was the least of the roommate's transgressions; June cannot come soon enough for her to move out). So I had something to expect. I read for quite a while, kept putting off the book as I read other things, and ultimately came to Anna to finish a couple weeks ago. I had further strange misfortune of a Jeopardy! question that referenced a character jumping off a train platform to commit suicide (close but inaccurate!) to further ruin the story for me. But regardless, I persevered. Around the time of the Jeopardy! question, I started realizing what a pain Anna was. She had no conception of the real world, and really was driving everyone around her (and even moreso the reader) nuts! I was ready for her to die! So fortunately, two weeks and 200 pages later, Anna finally committed suicide, and my world relaxed immensely.

Now, I may seem melodramatic in my description above, but I'm surprisingly accurate. Tolstoy is an amazing writer who really draws his reader in. In my case, I was completely drawn in by Anna's personality, however unbelievable it was, to the point that I was expressing to my roommates and anyone who would listen just how ready I was for Anna to die! I've never felt so strongly about a character (well, maybe about Harry Potter, but I wanted him to live!), and that is serious testament to the power of Tolstoy's voice. As unbelievable as Anna's character is, I was completely drawn in, and I wanted her eliminated from the story.

On the flip-side was Levin, who always maintained his worldly ways. The back of my copy described Levin as "a self-doubting agnostic who takes a different path [than Anna] to fulfillment and finds faith and marital bliss in an age of repression." I don't really feel that Levin reached the "marital bliss" that the back cover talked about; rather, he was doubting religion almost up to the end. But at least he was tolerable. His views were comprehensible and, also, tolerable. He didn't believe that the world was out to get him; rather, he felt that he needed to make a difference in the world. Suffice to say, I could really relate to Levin's character, while Anna's character was completely foreign to me.

Anna Karenina is an absolute gem of writing, whether it's truly a dichotomous view of Tolstoy himself or not [as the back of my copy tells me]. Regardless, he creates a great story where one will be rapt in the most dull of scenes, and moreover will become passionately involved in each of the characters portrayed within. A must-read!