Women's Work by Kari Aguila

Title: Women's Work
Author: Kari Aguila
Original Publication Date: November 16, 2013
Pages: 298


I knew my male to female author ratio was severely disproportionate with the scale undeniably tipping on the expected side. So I try, along with my many reading projects, to incorporate the ideal that such imbalance be rectified if not in an achievable and realistically acceptable equilibrium then at least the consolatory mindset that nobility exists in a task faithfully pursued such as this.

Then I thought, what better way to pursue this end, when by happenstance, I stumbled upon this book, which claims to present women’s struggles in a post-apocalyptic world, written no less by a female author.

Women's Work tells us the story of Kate and her family who struggles to survive in world ridden no less by male chauvinists who by all measures are extremist in their professed bigotry. In this world, the women have taken over all aspects, and when I say all, I meant everything. The men have not only been relegated but were also reeducated of their social roles. They stay in the house, are not allowed to speak in town or council meetings, they are, in all respects, abrogated of any capacity less the frivolous and mundane.

The concept was a fascinating one, the reversal of the socially constructed gender roles, the reaction of the male population to such extreme reversal, these were some of the things I was expecting in
Women's Work, but what struck me more was that this was the quandary of a single mother finding love in a society where a Man is not defined by any new established social convention but by the acts of his predecessors of the same biological orientation. This too was a novel more for the parenting of a single mother. There is less of the expected grand narrative of the noble struggle of survival in a post-apocalyptic world but only the fear of imagined and anticipated horrors that sublimely define the characters’ psychologies.

There are a number of things you have to get around to appreciate this.

The world building premise is anchored on the arrangement that the male contemporaries have orchestrated the government to pass laws banning birth control without the husband’s consent, to the regulation of what they could and could not wear, leading to more pivotal and drastic actions like the banning and removal of women from politics and the military. The premise world is an extremely male chauvinistic society.  If you get around that you can move on with the story, which leads us to the next point.

The novel presents a comprehensive and absolute dichotomy between the male and the female sexes, an instance which, even in fiction I might add, is highly improbable unless we discount the existence of certain radical, idealistic individuals, or group of individuals. This is the perfect embodiment of a class fighting for its own liberation from domination and believes itself to be fighting for human freedom and was able to appeal to an idea present  in all who are oppressed which however in the long and virtually continuous battle for freedom, the classes who were fighting against oppression at one stage sided with the enemies of freedom when victory was won and new privileges were to be defended. Because it tries to take on this grand extremist scenario of men vs. women, the story failed on the microcosm, I was expecting a more immersed perspective in presenting the difficulties of a woman in a possible post-apocalyptic world, like that of raising a young boy in such well delineated social arrangement, or that of the greater need for security. I have to point out that the concern for security in relation to the man in this novel cannot be included, for even in the beginning, subtle sexual proclivities can be read between Kate and the man, no real concern for security exist there.

The children too are a tad unrealistic. They were perfect, much too perfect. They followed all commands, did not answer back, did not worry about their father lost in the war, they communicated with their parents. Because they were perfect, they were all the same and hence no reasonable character development existed. Because they were perfect, they were an anachronistic existence in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s just hard to imagine that these children whose life are peppered with bomb craters, raider threats, women armed with arrows and knives are presented in such a faultless existence.

To me, the characters fail because they are perfect. The power struggle fails because the conflict is grounded on the belief that the differences among genders are defined only by their biological orientations.

The writing style is admirable, with the occasional rough transitions and forced conversations, considering this to be the first work of the author. Still, much thanks, Kari, for my copy! I look forward to your growth as writer!

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner Trilogy #1) by James Dashner

Title: The Maze Runner (Maze Runner Trilogy #1)
Author: James Dashner
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Original Publication Date: October 6, 2009
Pages: 374

The Maze Runner is like Pandora's box. As the mysteries haven't been revealed just as Pandora's box haven't been opened, it remains to have this unlimited, unknown potential. This statement comes after reading the main trilogy under Maze Runner, and is a subtle way of saying, that  I really liked how James Dashner conceived this world, but did not so much as appreciate how he ended it. Tragic and disappointing.

1984 by George Orwell

Title: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Publisher: Signet Classics
Original Publication Date: 1949
Pages: 328

Perhaps what makes this tale so gripping is the propensity of the imagined world to be translated in an objective observable human reality, more so as an empirical experience (not discounting that it may have been translated already). Orwell did a superb job merging a tragic romance and a corrupted political ideology. Worthy to be read beyond its years.

Mockingjay By Suzanne Collins

Originally posted at Goodreads

I'm thinking of the perfect way to open this review, and while doing so, I realize that I am genuinely saddened at how the series developed and ended. I liked Hunger Games, I liked it to the point that even after what Collins did with Catching Fire, I still finished Mockinjay, partly because Catching fire was evidently prefatory to Mockinjay and partly because I sincerely hoped till the last pages the book can recover. It did not.

I see that most if not all of my Goodreads friends have rated the book from 4 to 5 stars. I could have given the same rating to Hunger Games, but doing so to Catching Fire and Mockinjay would be taxing credulity.

Collins killed her own creation.

Collins killed the Katniss that has captivated readers from Hunger Games. She killed the independent, headstrong, resolute and determined Katniss. Instead she gave us a Katniss who is fatally fickle-minded, inconsistent, vacillating and hesitant. This points out Collins' failure in developing Katniss' character concomitant with that of the plot, both in the substantially abstract aspect and the literal one. Notice how Collins has perpetuated the use of questions and maybe's in Katniss' extended internal monologues. Katniss was left unsure and questioning all the time. It is worth repeating that one of the reasons I have read this book is the empowerment and divergence from gender norms presented through a female lead. However what remained of such positive assertions were obliterated with the 2nd and 3rd books. They contained nothing but mere vestiges of something that should been worth perpetuating in any literary work. It is truly heartbreaking.

Collins killed the plot too. Systematically done through an incoherent execution and severely erratic pacing. One moment we see a rescue getting organized for Peeta's liberation the next, he's just there. Collins could have cut back on Katniss's internal monologues, because by this point, it is tedious and borders boredom. I half-expected that she would do so, she had every capacity and opportunity to her disposal, considering that there were numerous moments she could have drawn out in the book, like writing out Peeta's rescue but instead we get a sudden surprise that it was successful,(view spoiler) I know Collins wanted those deaths to deliver a wallop of an emotional punch, but it did not. She failed to establish the reason and the need for the deaths. It was simply disjointed. Collins did not need to spend a hundred pages or so on building-up the rebellion through Katniss' long walks over District 12. And most especially revolting, since this book is half dystopian and half romance is how the romance was eventually played out. I was eagerly looking forward at how it will be resolve, at how Katniss will choose between the two, I could swear I could have thrown the book in the thrash when I notice EPILOGUE suddenly looms over the next page. I mean just fu*k it. Fu*k it. Aside from the indecisive use of the kisses and the subtle objectification there was actually no resolute conclusion on the romantic issue was there, or could one hardly call Peeta's reappearance shoveling the snow at Katniss' house the decisive moment? This was the point that Collins should have employed those excessive internal monologues of Katniss and explained why Gale is suddenly out of the picture. Well, if one fundamentally considers, Katniss did not actually choose anybody did she? Peeta chose her from the beginning till the end (bolsters the predicament that Katniss is indecisive). Haymitch was proverbial when he said to Katniss that she does not deserve him a thousand lifetimes over. For all its worth, Peeta's the real martyr here, that is why it was actually a relief that he was hijacked.

Believe it or not, Collins managed to kill the excitement too. The books were overly anticlimatic. The escape from quarter quell being told in hindsight, and so is the conclusion of the supposedly epic rebellion. I mean, Collins simply build it up and up and up and just cuts it. It would have been more riveting if she wrote it straight out.

I finished the series because I was in love with the possibilities presented by the plot I experienced with Hunger Games. I was captivated by that Katniss. And I am saddened of how things turned out. This was something that started out great, turned tepid in the middle and ended up badly. One of the stars in the rating is rationalized by my love for Hunger Games, the other comes from my sister. She's gonna hate me with leaving Mockingjay with only a star, so here's two.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Originally posted at Goodreads

At the outset, it is worth mentioning that the reason I read Hunger Games is that the lead is a woman. I have finished a number of YA books (not numerous, but substantial enough) to see a subtle inclination (at least to the ones I have read). Those books were epitomes of woman empowerment at the most, and at the least were divergents from a male-lead, paternalistic, socially constructed society. I find that Hunger Games is no different from those books and certainly no stranger to that, although to what degree I have yet to conclude.

The books is presented through Katniss' POV, I guess this should have said lot of what was forthcoming. I am hesitant to ascribe as form of a fault more than necessity the extended internal monologue and world-building through Katniss. I guess there is simply no other choice considering the manner the book is presented. The problem though is that the mental disposition of Katniss is more of a hodgepodge, that is to say clutter is involved. Sometimes it is questionable that someone who suddenly daydreams of the past and fantasizes of what could have been won the games. Although I am lead to believe that such fickle-mindedness is prevalent among the female sex. But beneath that, I can see how Katniss has been tempered, the verisimilitude of the persona within the setting is riveting.

There is almost none to little character development at all aside from Katniss' is there? This waterloo is intricately embossed with the manner of writing the story. How can one build another character through a single POV?

The book is also labeled as dystopian. To this aspect too much have yet to be developed, and after the first book, I have yet to conclude if I am in the middle of either a gory love story or a dystopian novel. I am picking that second book to answer all this. I have high hopes that this will not be one of those books that are using dystopian themes to perpetuate comical and laughable love stories that are better left unread, or better yet, unwritten. This book comes with a three star rating meaning I'd follow Katniss to death rather than live a thousand lives with a simpleton like Bella.

Conspicuously, and still strangely enough, the tragic love story of 1984 is what comes to mind with Peeta and Katniss' relationship and of course, Battle Royale. I am even inclined to say that the plot was lifted from this Japanese work.