I've Been Otherwise Occupied

Each time I thought I would sit down to write the blog, something would happen that pulled my thoughts away.  If it weren't the quilt, and it was most of the time, it was a book, family matters, or appointments.  No excuses, writing just never seemed to find its way onto the schedule.

That paragraph, for instance, was written three hours ago.  This time it was family that took precedence.  However, I anticipate having a couple of uninterrupted hours now, so let me get to writing.

The book mentioned above was "The Prophet of Yonwood" by Jeanne DuPrau [2006, Yearling, a division of Random House, Inc., New York]. This is a prequel to the Ember Series.  "The City of Ember" [2003], and "The People of Sparks" [2004] preceded it in publication, but follow it by a couple of hundred years chronologically.  All three were discussed by Felix Grant in his Growlery blog, here, here, and here.  He does a much better job of opening the book to prospective readers than I can, and, therefore, I recommend reading his contributions.   We have also written about the misnomer Juvenile literature for this series, my contribution here, and his here.

I've read the three books in the order in which they were published, Ember, Sparks, and Prophet.  I have problems reading prequels.  I believe that I continually try to guess how the author is going to move the characters and story to the place I know it is moving.  That hindered my enjoyment for a while, but I finally let it go and let the story wrap itself around me.

It did that; it wrapped itself around my conscious to the point that for some portions I could only read a chapter at a time, then taking time to consider its message.  These books are excellent books, well written, and tell an engrossing story.  They also have a message.  As Felix says,

Buy copies, and give them to every 9-14 year old you know. Then give a few more to adults, as well, for good measure. Oh yes, and send one to your favourite MP, senator, president, or other politician (regardless of your, or their, political affiliation) while you are at it. Make the world a better place.

There are several meaningful messages throughout the Prophet of Yonwood.  For me, the last few paragraphs of Chapter 28, pages 255 - 256, are as important as any.

It was the picture of the dust mite, a little bent.  She stuck it between the pine cone and the stone, so that it stood up.  It added a note of strangeness that was exactly right. It seemed to say. "Remember, I am here, too, along with other things you can't see.  ...

...  Or if no one finds it, then it can all be for God.  Only not for the Prophet's God, her mean, picky God who dislikes so many things.  It's for my God, the god of dogs and snakes and dust mites and albino bears and Siamese twins, the god of stars and starships and other dimensions, the god who loves everyone and who makes everything marvelous.

All three of these books are very good, similar but different.  As Felix says:

If I had too make a quick and glib characterisation, I would say that Ember is the most inventive book; Sparks the wisest; and Yonwood  the most urgent. But that would do all of them a disservice.

We differ slightly.  For me, Yonwood is the wisest, and Sparks the most idealist.  Yonwood shows us the possible, it also shows us that the work must be continually renewed.  Sparks left me hopeful.  T wonder whether the hope that Sparks ended with continues into the fourth of the series, due out in September.  I have my order in at my local bookstore already.

Changing the subject slightly, each of these books have a photo of Ms.DuPrau in the inside back cover.  Generally, I don't trust these photos.  They could be very out of date, or possibly not even of the author.  This one I like.  As with almost any photo, what is seen is as much from the viewer as the person in the photo, and perhaps that's particularly true here.  But this lady looks interesting.  The photo is good, but it's her books that puts her on my short list of people I would like to meet, have dinner with, and talk about any number of interesting things.  There are two other authors on that list, both women.  One is Ursula K. LeGuin, the other Mary Oliver.  Wouldn't a dinner party with these three be a wonderful evening?  Oh well, now you know another of my small fantasies.

Speaking of bookstores, Marrianna and I visited one of the chain stores this afternoon.  Usually we use local, independent bookstores, but a wonderful lady gave us a generous gift certificate for this one, so we, naturally, had to use it.  Marrianna bought a few gift books and a couple of decorating books.  I bought one small book about writing.

Our local bookstore, Fearrington Village's  McIntyre's Fine Books,  is much smaller than the chain, but it is so much more inviting.  There are easy chairs, a fireplace, and knowledgeable people.  I'm sure the chain has knowledgeable people too, but it just isn't the same.  I don't go in McIntyre's as often as I'd like, because the ambiance pulls and I seldom walk out without at least one book.

Comments

[Felix Grant]

Wonderful to have you back.

I can't complain at four days silence, when you are still posting more frequently than I ever manage, but it IS good to get my daily compass back! :-)

A good post, too. Thank you. For me personally, a valuable opportunity for triangulation on my relative assessment of the three /Ember/ books.

And, courtesy of you quoting my words, I was able to go back and correct a typo in my original!