Submarine

by Joe Dunthorne, c. 2008, Hamish Hamilton, 290 pages.

Fifteen year old Oliver Tate is a boy obsessed. He is equally obsessed with his parent’s failing marriage (and lack of sexual activity) and learning new words from the dictionary. Another obsession is losing his virginity—and soon. Though he finds himself entwined in a relationship with the eczematous and occasionally pyromaniacal Jordana, his precocious awkwardness eventually isolates him from her.

Oliver is at times callous and detached as he takes a clinical view of those around him. This makes him a tough character to like in those moments. Luckily there are more moments throughout the novel Submarine in which Oliver reveals the awkwardness and anxiety of adolescence allowing him to become relatable to readers. This is a very darkly funny novel.

Rebel Angels

by Libba Bray. New York: Dleacorte Press, c. 2005, pbk. 548 pages. ISBN 978-0-385-73341-0

Second book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. It is near Christmastime and Gemma and her friends are looking forward to time away from Spence Academy. But their time of celebration is clouded by the dangers brought on by Gemma's recent actions in the Realms. Now the magic is loose and many are after its power. It is now up to Gemma to find the Temple and bind the magic to restore order to the Realms. But who can she trust when so many thirst for the power?

This book is a must read for fans of the first book, A Great and Terrible Beauty. Not only is this book full of mystery and fantasy, but Bray also gives the reader an opportunity to ponder racism, classism and the roles of women in Victorian England.

Butterfly

by Sonya Hartnett. Candlewick, c. 2010. 240 pages. ISBN 978-0763647605.

From LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers

Plum is awkward and uncomfortable in her body as she is poised unsteadily between being a child and becoming a woman. Her place in the hierarchy of her friends is precarious and her loneliness apparent to her housewife neighbor, Maureen. Convincing Plum to reinvent herself, Maureen becomes a friend and confidante but with motives Plum cannot readily see.

In the UK this book has been marketed as Hartnett’s first adult novel while in the US, it has been labeled young adult. While some LibraryThing Early Reviewers do not seem to agree that this is a YA book, I feel it is a shame they do not give teens more credit in their reading tastes, capabilities and experiences. Butterfly may be enjoyed by teen readers as well as adults--especially those women who can still remember those sharp pains of fear and loneliness during adolescence. Hartnett’s lyrical style of writing is clever at times but also often distracting. I am disappointed in the US choice in covers as it seems to be an unimaginative choice along with the title. For a writer whose prose is almost poetical, "Butterfly" is a bit of a letdown as title.

Pump Up the Volume

Pump Up the Volume, written and directed by Allan Moyle. Starring Christian Slater. Originally released August 1990, Rated R. 102 minutes.

"Talk Hard. Steal the Air."

This review is a departure from the usual for this blog. I normally only review or write annotations for books. Movies have always been a big part of my life and after re-watching Pump Up the Volume recently (after at least 5 years and 20 years after the first time I saw it), I felt a brief review here was necessary.

Mark is a shy new kid in a small town Arizona high school. At night he becomes Hard Harry, an uncensored DJ on a pirate radio station. He starts to gain loyal listeners amongst the teens in the town who have been waiting for someone to jolt them out of their stupor. When Hard Harry begins to expose the hypocrisy and corruption of the school principal, the FCC is called in to end the show.

This movie was in theatres in 1990. Here was the teen experience of suburbia--the boredom, the pressures, the loneliness. Slater's portrayal of Mark/Hard Harry was so meaningful and honest to me then and when I watched it again, all of the same emotions came back to me. There are some moments when it feels a little dated and almost corny, but this cannot really be avoided with a film 20 years old.

What struck me the most watching it now (as basically an adult) was really a question. Could this movie speak to teenagers today like it did to me when I was young? Teenagers who seem to enjoy being conformists and are so connected to one another almost all of the time? Could they even relate to a pirate radio DJ in these days of Facebook, cell phones, etc.?