Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays—May 3, 2011

Teaser TuesdaysTeaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teasers:

[amazon_image id=”0143034901″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignleft”]The Shadow of the Wind[/amazon_image]“We followed our host through a palatial corridor and arrived at a sprawling round hall, a virtual basilica of shadows spiraling up under a glass dome, its dimness pierced by shafts of light that stabbed from above. A labyrinth of passageways and crammed bookshelves rose from base to pinnacle like a beehive woven with tunnels, steps, platforms, and bridges that presaged an immense library of seemingly impossible geometry.”

—p. 5, [amazon_link id=”0143034901″ target=”_blank” ]The Shadow of the Wind[/amazon_link] by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I am listening to this book during my commute, and it’s an enthralling tale, though I wish I could go back and re-read parts. Jonathan Davis’s narration has been flawless. I don’t know if he’s a native Spanish speaker, but he certainly sounds like one.

Musing Mondays

Musing Mondays—May 2, 2011

Musing MondaysThis week’s musing asks…

Do you care if the book’s storyline is unrealistic? Will you keep reading, or will you set the book aside?

My answer to this question is it depends. No modern reader can read [amazon_link id=”0743477111″ target=”_blank” ]Romeo and Juliet[/amazon_link] without wondering how Juliet’s family bought the notion that Juliet was “dead” after she took Friar Lawrence’s sleeping potion. My students always have trouble believing that Juliet didn’t breathe or have a pulse that her family could detect. And I try to explain that medicine has advanced a great deal; perhaps Juliet’s family didn’t know to look for certain things. But my students don’t buy it, and I am with them, if I’m honest. However, as a plot device, Shakespeare needs Juliet to fake her death so she can be buried in the Capulets’ monument. The fact that I can’t buy that one event in the story does not diminish my enjoyment of the rest of the play.

Also, fantasy and science fiction often have elements that stretch credulity, including characters and events that exist nowhere except in the minds of the author. Tolkien’s hobbits and Rowling’s dragons aren’t real, but I enjoy their books very much.

However, one thing that does bother me is a Mary Sue type of character who is just too perfect. I find those types of characters more unrealistic than wizards and elves. Flights of fancy and events that can’t really happen don’t distress me much, but the characters should have enough humanity that I can recognize them.