(#30) / To Kill a Mockingbird / by Harper Lee/ (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

To Kill a Mockingbird / by Harper Lee

ISBN-13: 978-0446310789 / Grand Central Publishing

p. 281 / $7.99 (Amazon)

1960

Body of Content

Summary: Set in the Deep South, Harper’s tale spins the narrative happenings of the adult world from the eyes of a child – a girl named Scout Finch. To Kill a Mockingbird starts its story in the 1930s with Scout’s father – a lawyer named Atticus – taking the legal defense of an accused rapist.  Tom Robinson faces charges – as a black man – of raping a white woman.  The story centers on racial issues – as the story finds resonance in a time in American history with segregation and racial inequality as commonplace.  In such a time, the reader must wonder if justice will transpire for the sympathetically portrayed Robinson – while dealing with a racially charged community, where the majority of the white citizens believe in the man’s guilt on an inherent basis.      

Critique: In the novel, the children of Atticus Finch – Scout and Jem – start to experience the adult world – a world filled with racial tensions – not so evident in their own childhood state of innocence.  The character Boo Radley serves as a comparison character to the social events in the book. Both the character and the tensions in the book are mysterious through the eyes of the children.  Ultimately, Radley becomes an epistemological lens – the more of his life discovered by the children, the more of the adult world begins to make sense.

The children never knew much of their neighbor – nor did they know much about the reasons for white hatred against blacks.  But through the act of protection provided by Radley, the children learned not only of the good intentions of a previously misunderstood character, but also about the hatred of a local drunk – who would turn his anger towards Atticus and direct it at two children.    

Teaser: A child learns the way the world is – and the way the world should be.

Information about the Author:  Harper Lee published just one novel – the aforementioned title.  She did write a second novel titled In Cold Blood – but it never was published.  Her sole best-seller won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960.  Harper did write some articles for newspaper and articles – but she is chiefly known for To Kill a Mockingbird (A&E, 2011).

Her novel focused on life in the Deep South – which she knew very well – having been born in Monroeville, Alabama and eventually enrolling in the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.  A third novel title The Reverend – which never was published either – focuses again on a story set in Alabama.  Overall, Lee lives quietly and privately in dual residences – New York City and her hometown of Monroeville.  Now in her 80s, Lee usually avoids interviews or any events dealing with her novel (A&E, 2011).   

Supplemental Material

Genre: Drama

Curriculum Ties: History – segregation, civil rights, small town America / English – Southern Gothic literature

Booktalking Ideas: 1) What would you do as the son of a lawyer – if your father took on a very controversial case? 2) Does segregation still exist – or just exist in different forms today?

Reading Level: The reading level – of the prose – is straightforward enough for lower ages of high school students – with the content still relevant for older ages – (15-19).

Challenge Issues and Defense: Various challenges have been issued at the book – mostly centered on the civil rights issues that the book addresses.  The book has become a classic since its original publication in the 1960s – and a staple of high school classrooms in educational settings.  Most challenges occurred in earlier decades – but the premise of a court case dealing with a rape still could lead to challenges in the present-day.  But again, the various merits (awards) and usage (educational) of the book help defend its challenges. 

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I once built a replicate house of Boo Radley’s in high-school English class. It was quite lovely (like the book) – and I wish I had kept the house – I forget to pick it up on the last day of class – and it got thrown away – along with the 20+ hours of construction time.  So, at some level, I’m nostalgic about this book.  

Last Thoughts

References:

A&E Television Networks. (2011). Harper Lee [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://www.biography.com/people/harper-lee-9377021

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Fee / Album – “Hope Rising”  

(#29) / Into Thin Air / by Jon Krakauer / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Into Thin Air / by Jon Krakauer

ISBN: 0-385-49208-1 / Anchor Books  

p. 378 / $14.54 (Amazon)

1997

Body of Content

Summary: Jon Krakauer writes a first-hand account of the tragic events that unfolded in 1996 while climbing the world’s tallest peak.  Krakauer – who always possessed an interest in mountaineering – worked for Outside magazine at the time.  His employer arranged for him to travel to Nepal and write a feature story about various business ventures – how companies guided clients to the top of the Everest.  Krakauer finds himself at base camp – at elevation of over 17,000 feet – an elevation above his previous mountaineering experience.  At this height, the dangers are real – from bad weather to avalanches – from depleted oxygen level to sleep deprivation –from the severe cold to a lack of emergency medical aid.  But as Krakauer sets out in a guided attempt to the summit, the journalist comes to realize the most dangerous threat yet – human hubris.  

Critique: The novel speaks about – and at many times, against – the commercialization of Everest.  The first summit of the mountain occurred in the 1953 – and over subsequent decades, the mountaineering endeavor stands as a physical feat aided by a booming business that pairs wealthy clients with guides – in an effort to assist the clients’ ascension of the mountain and, in their opinion, ascend to a high level of human achievement.

The tourism fees alone – numbering tens of thousands of dollars that both Nepal and China require – demonstrate the willingness of many Western climbers to shell out monies for their attempt.  The book also speaks about the environmental effects – as Westerners leave their trash and oxygen bottles littered at base camp and along the mountain as well.  Such a practice stands in sharp contrast to many of the local peoples – who regard the mountain as sacred. 

But the consumerism and commercialism of the Westerners is painted in a different light, too.  The cost of the expeditions is not only in money – but in lives lost.  It is that dual nature of the book – painting the economic costs alongside the loss of human life – that creates a noteworthy commentary on adventure-seeking mountaineering.  For as the book unfolds, the two costs – of monies and lives – are directly tied together – they become difficult to separate: as the business guides reply on successful summits, they must take chances with human lives to do so. 

Into Thin Air provides a raw account of a survival story; but it contains social commentary – and leaves the reader with a rhetorical question: Is the payoff worth the cost?        

Teaser: A journalist gets the mountain climbing opportunity of a lifetime.  But as he ascends Mount Everest, more than a few stories develop from the journalist’s pen.

Information about the Author: Jon Krakauer is a journalist – whose early writing focused on outdoor activities in general and mountain climbing in particular.  Into Thin Air is the writer’s second novel, while another outdoor title (Into the Wild) is his first work.  Since his early works, Krakauer branched out into other journalistic-style novels – looking at Mormonism in the book Under the Banner of Heaven and researching military tales in his book about Pat Tillman titled Where Men Win Glory (Wikipedia, 2011).    

Supplemental Material

Genre: Nonfiction / Adventure

Curriculum Ties:  History – geography, commercialism, cultural customs  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) How much money would you spend – if you wanted the opportunity to climb the highest mountain in the world? 2) What is the highest elevation that you have personally visited – and how does it compare to the elevation of Everest’s base camp?

Reading Level: The reading level rests with older teens – likely 16-19. Younger readers may like mountain climbing tales like Banner in the Sky where less people die.

Challenge Issues and Defense: The book tells a raw and poignant account of mountain climbing.  Some language and general premise hamper the book – but not to the level of hamstringing it.  The book is well-written and the book’s popularity helps it – if ever challenged.

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: The book takes the romanticism away from mountain climbing and thrill-seeking in general.  I believe that I liked the book – because it provided a cautionary tale against human hubris – against blind ambition.

Last Thoughts

References:

Wikipedia. (2011). Jon Krakauer [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Krakauer

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Brooke Fraser / Album – “Flags” 

(#28) / Billions & Billions / by Carl Sagan / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Billions & Billions / by Carl Sagan

ISBN-13: 978-0345379184 / Ballantine Books /

p. 296/ $10.16 (Amazon)

1997

Body of Content

Summary: In Sagan’s work, the scientist looks at a host of social issues – from the perceptive of history and science – attempting to evaluate and comment on a myriad of divergent topics under the umbrella of one title.  The book breaks into three sections – 1) thoughts dealing with cosmology (“The Power and Beauty of Quantification”), 2) thoughts on political matters (“What Are Conservatives Conserving?”), and 3) opinions on human morality (“Where Hearts and Minds Collide”).  A few of the morality chapters are co-penned with writer Ann Druyan.  But otherwise, the physicist looks to explore the external universe of the created world and the inner universe of the human person – in a work that popularizes difficult matters in common language. The book contains a varied approach – taking lessons from different fields – though primarily from history and science – to make its case on the various topics.   

Critique: In one chapter, Sagan outlines how both science and religion can find common ground.  The chapter centers on the issue of environmentalism – and how both sides realize – particularly within Western traditions – certain assumptions and actions have resulted in harm to the natural habitat.  Scientists invent inventions without thinking of the long-term ramifications (1997, p. 164), while the Judeo-Christian tradition often overemphasize humans roles as subduers instead of stewards (1997, p. 165).

Often times, particularly in pop culture, the two fields – of science and religion – are treated as opposites.  While their methodologies differ (as science asks “how” and religion asks “why”), they both seek to understand the ultimate truth of the universe – just on different levels.  While Sagan believes this to some extent – saying that “many religions are now comfortable with an Earth that goes around the Sun, with an Earth that’s 4.5 billion years old, and with the other discoveries of modern science …” (p. 167) – I am not sure that he provides the same courtesy to science learning from religion. 

The Big Bang Theory does not prove a creating act by God – but it does say that the universe once had a definite beginning – a central theme in theist religions.  Although Sagan died before its publication, I wonder what discussion might have emerged – if he ever received the opportunity to read Modern Physics & Ancient Faith – where a leading physicist, Stephen Barr, writes of overlap between recent postmodern discoveries in physics and central tenets of Christianity.  Barr does not exposit religious proofs – but like Sagan – wonders at the possibility of shared presuppositions between the two fields.

Teaser: “Humanity stands at the dawn of a new century – and looking back over the past few millenniums – it’s been a wild ride.”

Information about the Author: Carl Sagan was a professor at Cornell University – dying in his early 60s in 1996.  Sagan is a world-renowned author and scientist – mostly in the fields of physics and areas related to cosmology.  He had a particular interest in planetary studies and the SETI project.  Many of Sagan’s works take difficult scientific theories and place them into metaphorical arrangements that the general public can understand.  Such a case of science “popularizing” resides in his TV series Cosmos.  He is also known in popular culture for his novel Contact – which filmmakers adapted into a movie that starred Jody Foster in 1997.   He even won a Pulitzer Prize for his work entitled The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence (Sagan, 1997).   

Supplemental Material

Genre: Adult Crossover / Nonfiction

Curriculum Ties: Philosophy – morality, human existence / Science – cosmology  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) What would an astrophysicist’s take on abortion look like? 2) The 20^th century marked a milestone in humanity progression – but in what areas does it suggest more of a digression than advancement?  

Reading Level: More a book for early college – juniors and seniors in high school would still have interest in the book.  This book applies the “two years over” rule to collection building – as it is intended for 19 to 20-year-old students, but those 17 and 18-year-old students who are more advanced than their peers may still read it.

Challenge Issues and Defense: The book does talk about various controversial issues like abortion, the environment, geopolitics – but it comes at it from academic vantage points.  The book is opinion-based – but it comes at the issues from a scholarly position and invites criticism.   

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I wanted to add a few books that were university-level additions that would still fall into the hands of teenagers as cross-over titles. 

Last Thoughts

References:

Barr, S. (2006). Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.

Sagan, C. (1997). “About the Author” [Book biography]. In Billions & Billions.

New York, NY: Ballantine Books. 

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Misty Edwards / Album – “Relentless”