About the New Canon

About 50 years ago, a group of scholarly blokes at the most acclaimed universities in the United States sat down and decided what books were to be considered literature and what books were just . . . well books. They didn't have any literary value and were not even considered "literature". The books in this Canon are said to be those literary works which have defined American culture and thus are the only ones fit to be taught. This blog is a rebellion against this old-fashioned idea. We are trying to express that these books are incredibly limited. They are essentially a list of books written by dead Eurpopean men. Women authors, minority authors and books that fall into categories other than so-called realistic fiction are few and far between on this list, but nonetheless they were judged to be ideal books against which all other books are to be measured. We want to create here a list of great reads that aren't necessarily written by someone who could not imagine what life would be like for our generation. The value of the books included on the Canon cannot be ignored, but by limiting ourselves to a strict list of valuable books, we eliminate the voices of our current generation.

Monday, October 8, 2007

The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen

Title
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax

Author
Liz Jensen

Copyright
2004



Well, I don't really know where to start on this book. It is a great read, let me assure you and it will definitely mess with your head. I guess the only way to describe this book is that it is a paranormal mystery in which a nine year old comatose patient named Louis Drax is communicating with through doctor's spells of sleep walking, but even so this description falls short. Louis is what you would call an emotionally disturbed child. He is constantly having accidents, and each year he nearly dies. The circumstances that have caused young Louis to be in this coma are unclear, but his life has been anything but interesting.

The narrative style of this particular book is very interesting in that it shifts in first-person semi-"stream of consciousness" writing between both Louis (who is still in his coma) and Dr. Dannachet (who tells what is going on in the "real" world). I would highly highly highly reccommend reading this one, and I have delayed posting it until Sayshana finished reading it. Odds are we'll get some commentary on it from her, as well.

The main focuses of this novel are on the parent/child relationship as well as on what is paranormal versus psychological. I warn you when you read this novel, that nothing is really exactly what it seems so be prepared to be shocked.

Oh, and there is also recent information about a movie planned for 2008. Here's the link to imdb about it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422829/
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