               Battle of the Kids' Books
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Most Commented On
ArchivesBlog
Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (8)
Round 1 Match 1: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves vs Ways to Live ForeverApril 12, 2009
Judge Roger Sutton's Statement Much as we might wish it, books ain’t basketball. The thing about March Madness, which I only dimly comprehend after watching the last ten minutes of Michigan State over Connecticut, is that everybody is playing the same game. So not so with books, but given that proviso, let’s begin. Ways to Live Forever has the advantage of opening with one of those “startling statements” beloved by composition teachers, one that gives the book its trajectory: we know our boy Sam is going to die, a conclusion magnetic enough to easily obviate the need for suspense. And Sam’s narration is so unselfconscious, and his situation so firmly sketched, that our empathy for the hero is immediately won and firmly held. The rewards of Kingdom on the Waves are more hard won. Anderson brilliantly sums up Octavian Nothing: The Pox Party in a short prologue that fills in or reminds us of what came heretofore. Linguistically, it’s a sort of Here There Be Dragons warning for just how difficult the language and style are going to get, but because the events being recounted are mysterious and dramatic, it’s something of a siren’s call, too. The flaws of each book are at one with their virtues. There’s nothing wrong with a book that wants to make you cry, which Ways to Live Forever definitely wants to do. The kind of book where He (or, more often, She) Dies in the End has an enduring appeal. The larger aesthetic problem with Ways to Live Forever is that it gives us what we already want. It’s a little cozy that way, comforting, safe, and circumscribed. Just the way we wish we could think about death. The treatment of the many deaths in Kingdom on the Waves is scarier, unsettling in the way the death of others actually is. The formal and antiquated language does give readers some distance from Octavian’s grief and trials; and it keeps the story at a distance and slows it down, too. It does for me, anyway—the language stopped me (frequently with its brilliance, sometimes because it was showing off, sometimes because I simply could not figure out what was being said) often enough that I never felt completely pulled into the story. This sense of alienation could be completely calculated, though, much like a Brecht play that reaches across the footlights to slap us in the face. Kingdom of the Waves wants adamantly to be more than just a story. And that’s why I give it the palm. Great books shake up our expectations. They resist us as much as we resist them. There’s no question that Ways to Live Forever is the more widely appealing (and certainly easier to read and more tidily constructed) of the books in this bracket. It will have a lot of young fans, I think. And if someone asked me to recommend another book “just like it,” I could—a “boy book” that has humor and drama and Big Questions and conveys the emotional life of a boy in a boy-respectful way. If, however, someone asked me for another Kingdom on the Waves, I’d be stuck. It’s a book we didn’t have before and thus offers new possibilities for the books that will come after. I don’t think it will have a wide readership among kids, but it will be read by teachers, librarians, and perhaps most influentially, other writers. What will it allow them to write?
 Posted by Battle Commander on April 12, 2009 | Comments (8)
April 13, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 1: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves vs Ways to Live Forever Lauren Downey commented: Yay Octavian Nothing!
April 13, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 1: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves vs Ways to Live Forever Deborah Dietrich commented: Don't know about the one book, but we decided not to buy Octavian II since Octavian I has never checked out despite being featured in displays multiple times.
April 13, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 1: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves vs Ways to Live Forever Kara Dean commented: Well, I've not read either book, but I think Roger Sutton's analysis was so beautifully and eloquently written that I don't feel at all guilty about it! I got everything I needed from the commentary. Nicely done!
April 14, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 1: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves vs Ways to Live Forever Julie commented: I'm a bookseller and have put both Octavian books into kids' hands, letting them know that sure, it's a bit difficult in terms of vocabulary, but really worth the effort. I suggest to parents that they read it aloud with their kids - even better. There's quite a growing cult of fans (kids AND parents) who talk to me about the books & how startling and exciting they are. Not a single one thought they were a "slog" as Jonathan Hunt calls it. Some kids know how to work at it, just like some adults do - there are different kinds of adult readers, and not all of them go for Henry James - some of them like Tom Clancy. Sure, maybe judging Octavian Nothing against Ways to Live Forever was like comparing apples and oranges - that's the trouble with ALL judgments, isn't it? So what is Mr. Hunt saying - we shouldn't judge? Maybe someone should tell that to the Newbery Committee and the Caldecott, Prinz, National Book, Boston Globe-Horn Book people...? One other quick thing: saying "Good and Important" as Mr. Hunt did, with the same kind of implied sneer that reactionaries describe "intellectuals" in this country (What? Good and Important is BAD? Using our intellects is BAD?) is really an unpleasant & counter-productive strategy.
April 14, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 1: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves vs Ways to Live Forever Laura commented: Woop woop! Go Julie, go Julie! Dang, that was an awesome rant!!! Loved it!
April 14, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 1: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves vs Ways to Live Forever anonymous commented: As fond as I am of the folks organizing this battle, and as much as I respect the judges, I see no point in comparing OCTAVIAN to WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER. What deeper understanding emerges? OCTAVIAN is simply brilliant-- and NOT UNREADABLE. We must honor the intelligence of readers, not run from it.
April 14, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 1: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves vs Ways to Live Forever Joyce commented: The logic here is confounding. OCTAVIAN is the superior book because it aspires to be more than just a book, and because its best audience is writers who read children's books. Why not just assign everyone THE INFERNO and call it a day?
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 1: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves vs Ways to Live Forever annonymous commented: A seventh grader just raved about Octavian Nothing and another one has fallen in love with Ways to Live Forever -- all in the same room. I guess it all depends on personal tastes and it seems to me that the judges here are not given any guidelines or criteria. Sutton has every right to evaluate the two books as he saw fit. If I were to judge (alas, I'm neither famous, nor influential, and thus will have no chance,)the result would have been very different.
Advertisement
|
Advertisements
|
|||||||||||||
