White Crow

Marcus Sedgwick is such a dark YA author, and I love that he writes books which give young adults credit for being able to read fiction that is of such a high standard, without talking down to the reader. The fact that he has such a large following proves to me that although readers do enjoy some light escapism, that they will read a wide range of fiction, and that people who underestimate the value of a good story rather than a gimmick, don't really understand their audience at all.

I always find that it takes me a while to pick up the latest Sedgwick, knowing that I will be in for an unsettling read. But not once have I been disappointed, and I always find that once I've started the book I am entirely unable to put it down. White Crow is no exception.

 "Supposing you wanted to prove something, something important. Supposing you wanted to prove, for argument's sake, that there is life after death."....."You might say that although you have not seen every crow in the whole world, every crow you have ever seen is black. Therefore the chances are very great that all crows are black. In fact, you have decided for a fact that all crows are black. Now of course, if someone could show you a while crow, everything would be overturned in a moment. But all crows are black. And in the same way, you conclude that no one lives after death. There is no 'other side'. There is no white crow. But, supposing I said I had seen a white crow? Just one. A single white crow. What then?" (an exert from White Crow)

This is a chilling concept, and a chilling narrative, which bounces from a gothic tale of religion and life after death, to an equally gothic contemporary story of two girls, who form an uneasy friendship which takes them to the very borders of existence. The setting for this book is a remote cliffside town, which, battered by the winds and the sea drops its borders into the sea without warning. Ferelith has grown up in the town, but has been an outside all her life. Rebecca is new, but feels equally alienated. She is seduced by Ferelith's strangeness, although she does sense an unease about her new friend. Taunted by her own demons, she follows Ferelith into the dark obsessions of her mind, linked to the horrific past of the town. 

A cover review says 'It's quite a horrible story. I love it.' And that's pretty much it. White Crow is horribly gothic. The characters are creepy and unsettling and generally quite unlikeable. But Sedgwick has such a way with words, that reading this book is like reading a Poe story. You know it will keep you awake later, but you just can't seem to put it down. I read it at home in an afternoon and felt as though the shadows were creeping in on me from all corners. The tale is intriguing and thought provoking, and ultimately a very clever look at human nature and how far we will go to justify our own existence.

Incidentally, I found a picture of a white crow.

Blazing Twilight, Steve Toltz and ten books I intend to read soon.

So this post is primarily about the Melbourne Writers Festival, and the all too limited amount of time that I spent there. It did lead me to thinking about the books that sit forever unread on my bedside table, important enough to stay there, but not current enough to be a priority for work so I'll wrap up with a list of what they are and why I think I need to read them at the end for anyone who cares.

This year I had the very exciting pleasure of being asked to be on a panel at the Melbourne Writers Festival.

A photo of me, mid rant, courtesy of the MWF site. Van Badham is at the front here with Kate Forsyth a little lost in the middle.

The panel was part of the schools program and was a friendly debate addressing the Twilight phenomenon and discussing whether or not it was fading.

Now, intentional or not, the teams had been divided into men and women. On the negative side, that is, that Twilight is NOT fading were myself, Van Badham and Kate Forsyth. On the positive were our esteemed male counterparts; Ben Chandler, Jeff Sparrow and Glen (whose last name I'm ashamed to admit I don't recall and which does not actually appear on the program, but who is pictured below).

From the left: Jeff Sparrow, Glen (sorry!), and Ben Chandler

Now I do have to be honest here and say something a little controversial. I don't love Twilight. I know. Sorry everyone. 

I did read the first book and found the story generally compelling and addictive in the same way that most pop songs are. You know, you wouldn't buy the album, but if the song comes on in the car you can't help singing along. However, by the fourth book I was fed up, skipping forward just to find out what happened so that I could have some closure, but not really interested in what was going on in the story.

Having said that, the phenomenon surrounding the books is something that I couldn't support more. What I love about books like Twilight is that they have boosted the once solitary activity of reading into the mainstream, into the popular culture, into the hands of the 'cool' crowd. Like never before, young adults are devouring series, talking about books and interacting with their favourite authors. And you know what? Even hating Twilight is a good thing. Because if you read it and thought it was rubbish, then you are that much more inspired to find something to read that is not.

People are reading on trams, at busstops, in sneaky coffee breaks at work. And although I did seem to push a few buttons when I suggested that younger readers were reading Twilight, it's true. It certainly isn't intended  for an audience of 8-10 year olds, but if they're reading it, and talking about it, then surely they're connecting with the very purpose of reading, which is to gain new experiences, to help us grow, and to transport us to another land.

For those of you who read my very first post on this blog, you will already know all the reasons that I think Twilight is worthwhile. And I don't want to get off track in this post, which is really about the session overall.

I did love the debate that we had. It was heated and interesting and raised many valid points of view, as well as a few eyebrows. I would like to say that the boys were funny and charming and congratulate them on their win. For me, losing was entirely acceptable, because like any good debate, the point was to start a discussion, and judging from the heated audience responses, I think we can safely say that on that note, we were a massive success.

Unfortunately I didn't have the time, the money or the headspace to get to as many sessions as I would have liked at this years MWF. Recently though, I lent a good friend of mine my (as yet unread) copy of A Fraction of the Whole and she loved it so much that when I saw that Steve Toltz was going to be doing an in conversation session at MWF I knew that we couldn't miss it. For the record, I am now well into the book, and it is deserving of every bit of praise that it has received.

Steve Toltz was wonderfully candid. For someone who has skyrocketed from anonymity to the Booker shortlist and all of the attached fame, he was so warm and genuine, that I think I could have listened to him talk all night. Which explains why people are so willing to read such an epic book.

If you haven't read A Fraction of the Whole do. You can read some samples here:

http://www.penguin.com.au/afractionofthewhole/extract.htm

and I'm afraid if that doesn't convince you to read it, then there is no hope for you.

Now again, there was no name for the lady who conducted the conversation on the MWF site. I know that she was an editor, but I was so enchanted by Steve that her name completely escaped my attention. She asked all the questions that I wanted to know though, and quite rightly describes the book as 'relentlessly funny' a description that I couldn't agree with more. And for a book that weighs in at over 800 pages that amount of humour woven in to every page with such skill is quite a feat.

As a writer about to embark into the fairly daunting world of pitches and query letters, it was both reassuring and terrifying to hear that someone like Steve Toltz had received sixteen rejections before landing a publishing deal. And one of the things that really stayed with me from his conversation was the reminder that to write, you need to soak up as much knowledge as you can. Steve shared a wonderful quote which was that the only character that an author cannot write is an author better than himself. As writers, we can write fiction, but the more knowledge that we have behind us, the more expansive our writing will be.

So, the reason that this brings me to the pile of unread books on my bedside table is this. I have had an ARC of A Fraction of the Whole since before its publication. I knew it was good, I knew I wanted to read it. But I need to read so many books a week to stay up to date with my own reviews, and to keep my knowledge current for work, that all too often, the books that aren't brand new, that I just want to read for my own enjoyment, get left by the wayside.

I'm trying to fix that. Starting with A Fraction of the Whole, these are the ten books that I will endeavor to read by this time next year. By then of course, I'm sure that fifty more will have taken their place, but it's a start.

1. A Fraction of the Whole Steve Toltz, (as above)
2. The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood (I need to shamefully admit here that I haven't gotten to any Atwood yet, and I am quite desperate to honestly, plus I need to return this copy to the friend who lent it to me)
3. Perdido St Station China Mieville (and congratulations to China on winning the Hugo at this years World Con. I have read plenty of his work, but not to have read this seems like a gross oversight on my part, especially given my love of steam punk)
4.The Corrections Jonathan Franzen (I actually have a signed first edition of this. Aside from the fact that I know it will be good, it would be almost rude to own that and not have even read it.)
5. A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
6. Dog Boy Eva Hornung (one of the new releases recently (ish) that has really grabbed my attention. I don't know why, I'll tell you when I've read it.)
7.The Maggot John Fowles
8. The Vintner's Luck Elizabeth Knox (I'm told that it's beautiful and a must read. I've been carrying around a copy in my handbag for about a month now, and I WILL get to it soon.)
9. Carter Beats the Devil Glen David Gold
10. A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole

There are no YA novels on there because I generally get to them pretty quickly because of work. Also, they are quicker to read. On that note, I will be posting a review of White Crow, Marcus Sedgwick's new novel soon, and some brief thoughts on the 2010 Inky's longlist.