Closing of The Magicians

Last night I finallyyy finished The Magicians. Though the story was interesting to some degree and the novel was very easy to read, I cannot help feeling like nothing actually ever happened. The physical kids went to Fillory and had one thrilling terrifying fight with some crazy creatures, but that was it... then we didn't see any of the characters again and Quentin did nothing in Fillory but hang out and recover. Then he found a magical pony (I think) and wished himself home. He ended up in an easy high paying job that he neither cared about nor disliked. Just like the rest of the book, Quentin was indifferent. Even in the end when his friends came back and asked him to come to Fillory with them and be a king, he decided to go because he was indifferent, so why not?

Overall, the whole novel was rather depressing and unfulfilling. I thought it was all about a quest and eventually Quentin would come to realize what he's been searching for all of his life. Instead, he became less emotional than ever and never ended up finding what it is that could make him happy. I can't seem to find the meaning of this novel or the purpose for all of the allusions to other magical works. Maybe this will all be explained in class today.... Hopefully!

Utterly Depressing...

My general liking of Lev Grossman's The Magicians has turned into a neutral, take-it-or-leave-it kind of attitude. The overall depression of the characters coaxes me into a sad, dramatic mood every time I pick up the book. Just by listening to all of Quentin's unhappiness and complaints I start to wonder if I'm happy myself, or if I'm still looking for something else. I'm a little past page 300 out of about 400 pages total and I can't wait to get to the end so I can finally see if there's some purpose to this book. To me, it seems like nothing has happened the entire book. Quentin mopes around in the beginning, he gets into Brakebills and he's still not happy, he goes home and he's not happy, he gets in with the Physical kids and starts sleeping with Alice and he's happy for a short while, but then he graduates and is miserable again, now he's in Fillory (as far as we know) and he's still unhappy. Quentin has gotten everything he's ever wanted. All of his dreams have come true and he's still moping around looking for something more in his life. If this isn't settled by the end of the novel, I'm going to be very confused about the purpose of this book. I'm hoping that some sort of journey or war will come about in Fillory so that Quentin and all of his magician friends will feel purposeful and stop hating each other and complaining all the time.

As for the allusions to Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia, I'm not sure what that's all about. There have been a ton of allusions and outright mentionings of other literature dealing with magic, but I never got into Harry Potter and I read Chronicles of Narnia in elementary school so I don't remember it that well. Nevertheless, hopefully all of these things will come to light once the kids find their purpose and the novel ends. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The Magicians

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Lev Grossman's The Magicians yet. It's fairly interesting and not a hard read, but it isn't particularly compelling nor does the magical school seem all that "magical." So far, Quentin has wandered away from home and into a magical college, taken a long weird exam, and wandered around aimlessly ever since. Since I'm only on page 47, I should probably give it some more time before I judge so harshly, but it just seems like there is so much more that Grossman could have done to pull in the reader and really engross them in this magical world. Maybe I'm expecting too much Harry Potter and that's not what Grossman was going for. Either way, I'm enjoying the novel just fine, I just expected something more unexpected and fanatical. The most magical thing that's happened is a deck of cards falling into the shape of a house... or that it is summer at the magical school and it's November in Brooklyn...

One thing I did find rather interesting was the way in which Quentin said he read the Fillory books and never really escaped them, now he's suck in a normal world always wanting something more. I feel like this is a very interesting and believable predicament. Several times after I've read a particularly engaging book I find myself lost in the world and the characters of the book for several hours or days afterward. Sometimes it seems like it would be more fulfilling to find this other world where all of these incredible things are happening rather than continue in our day to day monotonous lives. I think it will be very interesting to see if Brakebills lives up to Quentin's fantasies created by the Fillory books.

More Than Just a Game

The Hunger Games may be my favorite novel we have read this year. Suzanne Collins creates several characters that really rally the support of the reader during the graphic, gladiator-style fight to the death. The Hunger Games frequently reminded me of George Orwell's 1984 in the sense that the characters are always being watched by some higher power and their actions are altered by their need to please the government or whoever else is watching. The characters are controlled by the government like stringed puppets. The Hunger Games is simply a way for the government to remind all of the citizens of Panem that they are not in control of their own lives, they owe everything to the Capitol, a futurist sort of place where all of the higher powered citizens live in comfort and wealth.

One problem I had with this novel was the love affair between Katniss and Peeta. The whole opening of the novel got my emotions invested in Gale and Katniss's relationship, then Collins forces this over-the-top love story between two kids who are supposed to be killing each other. It was one thing when Katniss was hesitant to end her friendship with Peeta because she knew she couldn't kill him if she liked him, but it was too much, for me at least, when they were cuddling in a cave kissing while the others were hunting them down to kill them. I liked that the two teamed up once the rule change was made, especially because Peeta would have died otherwise, but I think it was ridiculous to have them so "in love" and to have the gifts received based on how many times they kissed or acted a certain way toward each other. In my opinion, Collins placed too much emphasis on the love affair between the two when the focus was expected to be on a gruesome man-hunt.

Despite the love affair between Peeta and Katniss, I really enjoyed the novel and the strong characters Collins created. The writing style makes the novel seem as if it were written for younger ages, but it is a great read regardless.