[books] The Amulet of Samarkand

[snugglekitty]

This is the only book that starkeymonster has ever recommended to me that I didn't like.



Initially, it looked terrific. A book for young adults, about a modern-day London run by magicians and demons, with amusing footnotes?

But I found that I didn't like it. Generally, I like reading young adult books because they warm me up, somehow. There's an inside part of me that gets tired sometimes, when I see how cold and disconnected the world is. Reading young adult books usually gives me a sense of hope.

In this book, everyone is out to get each other. Only hopelessly naive people try to protect or nurture the innocent. Everyone with a brain knows that you can't have any personal ties beyond those of convenience if you want to survive. Kind people are the victims of predators, not the heroes who overcome them.

That's not a world I'd ever want to live in. It made that tired place inside me feel even more cold.

I'm surprised that people like books like that. I have always agreed with that quote - Austen, I think - that says, "The good end well and the bad end poorly - that's what fiction means."

Comments

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

"The good end well and the bad end poorly - that's what fiction means."

-Oscar Wilde, actually, from The Importance of Being Earnest. Wonderful play. The recent movie version is also excellent.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Yup, that was my second guess, I just couldn't quite remember. Thanks for telling me the new movie is good - I wondered about that.

[samidha.livejournal.com]

I totally agree about YA. :)

Which is why I'd eventually like to be writing it as well but... so far no dice.

[amberite2112.livejournal.com]

"The good end well and the bad end poorly - that's what fiction means."

-Oscar Wilde, actually, from The Importance of Being Earnest


I remember that line- i was Earnest in my (all-girl) highschool's production back in '79. of course, being the ultra-orthodox jewish school that it was, they had no clue how cool (and hot!) it was for me to play the lead male role opposite my secret crush playing the leading lady!

[lifecollage.livejournal.com]

Interesting. That's a comment I hadn't heard about Amulet. Apparently, I really do just have to read it for myself.

However, if you like the idea of slightly altered real locations, try the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and I forget the third. It starts in modern-day Oxford with magic and daemons and then goes utterly fantastical.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

I did like His Dark Materials, although I was very disappointed with the end of The Amber Spyglass. It seemed a little too pat, I thought.

For alternate history, Anno Dracula is probably my all-time favorite.