Thank goodness for google!

Pages read today: 98 for Meredith 31 for Ilya

Google ended up coming to my aid in reading both of my last entries, The Giver and Touching the Void.

I suppose I'll go in the order in which I read them.  So first up... The Giver.  I really enjoyed this one, as it touched on one of my favorite themes...free will!  The book centers on the issue of free will, with arguments for both sides.  One which asserts free will is what makes us alive and able to really feel and live; the other arguing that free will is what inevitably brings about the destruction of civilization/mankind.  I enjoyed the writing style, which inserted me directly into the bizarre utopia community at the center of the story and kept me hooked until the last line of the book.  Now, I suppose my view of the community as "bizarre" is biased, due to my having lived in American suburbia my entire life; though I would like to think it was based on more than that, incorporating compassion and morals as well.  To me, the world described in the book sounds horrible, and not just relating to the utter lack of free will, I swear!  I found myself getting angry quite frequently as details were laid out as to how people in the community are treated. (SPOIILER....STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW DETAILS ABOUT THE BOOK!)  I mean, they beat babies and old people (and children of older ages, too).  With children it can be for things like mispronouncing a word.  Seriously?  I'm sorry, but to me that is just wrong no matter what purpose you claim it serves.  Though weren't teachers in American schools allowed to beat the students back in the day for the same purpose?  I guess it's just babies and old people that gets to me.  Or killing the babies because they were born as part of a twin set but you can only have so many babies born per year (and also can't have 2 people looking alike, heaven forbid!), so the one that weighs the least gets offed.  GAH!  So awful!  I could go on and on, but you get the gist.  Despite this anger I felt towards the "Elders" of this community who kept all this going, I couldn't stop reading!  It kept me wanting more, needing to know more.  Sadly, the ending left me knowing nothing and that's where google came in for this one.  The ending was so confusing to me (though perhaps this was because I finished up the book quite late at night and my brain couldn't work out the necessary pieces of the puzzle?) that I honestly had no clue what had just happened.  So I went to the googlemobile and looked into what other people thought about the ending.  Mostly this was useless, providing subjective opinions only, but there were some pieces of information thrown in there that helped me understand it a bit better (I think), though it requires me to read the rest of the books in the series.  This is no problem, though, as I was already planning on it.    

Next up was Touching the Void.  Wow, was this ever a good read.  Amazing, really.  It is a tale of survival for two men, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, on their journey climbing and descending the Siula Grande in the Andes.  *SPOILERS COMING!*  The entire book is so riveting and emotional, it was nearly impossible to put down.  Both men already had several close encounters that could easily have claimed their lives before they even got to the part of the journey where Joe broke his leg.  Each man ends up in their own fight for survival after the pivotal rope-cutting moment (which, by the way, doesn't happen until after Simon spends an entire day assisting broken-legged Joe, trying to get them both down the mountain, in a grueling physical battle and battle against the elements for both men).  After the rope is cut and Simon sees where Joe has fallen, it seems inconceivable that anyone could have survived.  So he makes the dangerous journey back to base camp alone, while dealing with the decision he made to cut the rope.  Joe did not die from the fall but figures out that Simon cut the rope and surely must think he is dead, and so he is left with an even more dangerous and challenging independent journey.  By the time Joe makes it close enough to base camp where Simon hears his calls and finds him, I was sobbing like a baby (even though I already knew, obviously, that Joe survived...seeing as he is the author of the book).  The emotions both men felt through their initial combined ordeal climbing the mountain (and beginning the descent), as well as their independent ordeals completing the descent, were portrayed so beautifully that it was impossible to not feel right there with them through all of it.  

Ok, so how did google come to my aid here?  Well, the only issue I had with the book (at first, anyway) was its abundant use of mountain-climbing and geographical terms that aren't necessarily known to everyone (though honestly, I don't know how else you describe the scenery and crucial items involved... I mean, that's just what they're called).  So being a non-mountain-climber myself, it was difficult for me at first to really visualize what was being described.  Thankfully, though, there is google!  So when I noticed this was the case (certain terms being used repeatedly, none of which made any sense to me but seemed pretty important in understanding the situations and visualizing the surroundings), I began searching these terms and finding images of each term that enabled me to more adequately place myself in their shoes (well, as much as is possible, anyway, while reading the story in my warm house snuggled under a blanket as opposed to actually living it in the sub zero temperatures with frost-bitten hands, a sunburned face, dehydration, starvation, sheer exhaustion and/or broken bones).  There is a glossary at the back of the book, but it is limited and I'm very visual so for me it was more helpful to be able to see pictures of these terms that were being used frequently.  If you're a mountain climber yourself, though, you would have no problem at all.  Personally, I think everyone should read this book.  It's truly inspiring to read and showcases how powerful the will to survive can be.  Go read it!

Next up for me will be a lighter read, as these last two were pretty dark.  Granted, the title (Why We Broke Up) doesn't sound too uplifting, from what I have gathered it is definitely a more lighthearted read.  There's even pictures!  I look forward to starting that one tomorrow.  Until then... keep the pages turning!