A youth leader's work is never done...treading the waters of some less than good teen pop culture

I'm struggle to write emails right now because my internet connection is playing up so I decided to blog instead.

As I start to be on the older end of the youth leader spectrum, suddenly keeping up with teen pop culture isn't as easy as it once was. Back in the day knowing (or at least having heard of) the TV shows, movies, music and books the teens were in to was second nature- helped by the fact that I listen to triple j and that I don't mind the odd angsty bit of teen drama/comedy on TV or in a film. Until a few years ago, I'd never heard of youth leaders going out of their way to watch, listen to or read what the teens were, and I wondered why anyone needed to. Then Twilight snuck up on me without my knowing about it and Justin Bieber was greeted with mass teen girl insanity when I'd never even heard of him. I realised that I may have lost my teen pop culture knowledge and was left to question whether I should make the effort to get it back.

Is it vital to know what is worth knowing about in the world of teen if you are going to be a youth leader? I'd say no. There are many youth leaders out there who don't. However is it a good idea to let be aware of it? I'd say definitely. Sometimes it isn't really an effort as it is something you'd do anyway- in my case listening to triple j and watching shows like Glee and Dr Who.

Unfortunately for the literary minded out there teen fiction of late (especially the fiction with mass appeal) has taken a turn for the worse and reading it can be quite the chore (Harry Potter isn't really young adult fiction so don't attack me Harry fans- it is good stuff)- where is the new John Marsden? Or next Looking for Alibrandi? At the same time, teen fiction is where teen girls (in particular) are getting a lot of their ideas and hopes from. This was partially in my mind when my book club made read me the first Twilight novel (it was so dreadful that I wasn't going to read anymore of them though I have seen the first three films), and I was shocked by the fact that novel was a testament to misplaced lust, female victimhood, and borderline abusive relationships. You may be thinking that I'm going too far but I read/watch quite a bit of vampire fiction (I considered writing my PhD on it) and I've never encountered a writer who was so unaware of the conventions of the genre that its inherent metaphors were so misplaced as to imply (almost implicitly state in fact) all of these things are normal. What does this knowledge benefit me? It means that I have some idea of where the teenage girls are getting their ideas from and that I can speak in a more informed way to both the teenagers and their parents about the books and whether they should be reading them- personally if teens are reading rubbish like Twilight, I'd say let them read as it is better than reading nothing but at the same time made sure that you (as youth leader or as parent or as anyone who has a role in a teen's life) know what things the books they read must be telling them so you can discuss the inherent issues (you don't have to struggle to read them, a wikipedia summary will probably tell you everything you need to know).Where does this bring me...to a youth leader's take on the new "it" book series for teens- Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy- be warned spoilers for people who haven't read them.

First published back in 2008, the film of the first book in the series will be out later this year. When describing these books to other adults, my short summary is "It is like Running Man but the competitors are less criminals and more teenagers". For those who don't get the reference have a longer plot summary. Sometime in the future, after the world has been destroyed by nuclear war, the US has been renamed Panem and has been divided in 13 districts (none of them wealthy, one of them supposedly destroyed) and a wealthy Capitol where people are obsessed with appearance and triviality. In order to demonstrate the control of the Capitol each year, two teenagers (one boy and one girl) are selected from each of the 12 existing districts to fight in the Hunger Games- an elaborate reality TV show designed by the Capitol in which the teens kill each other for the entertainment of the citizens of the Capitol and the horror of most of the people in the districts. Katniss Everdeen is 16 when her younger sister Prim is selected as the competitor for District 12 (somewhere in the current Appalachian region) in her first year of eligibility (when she is 12), and Katniss instantly volunteers to take her sister's place- also selected from District 12 is another 16 year old, Katniss's classmate Peeta Mellarck. At the time of her selection, Katniss is the sole provider for her family thanks to the hours she spends hunting illegally in the woods selecting District 12 with her best friend Gale Hawthorne. Under the tutelage of former District 12 Hunger Games winner, Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss and Peeta travel to Capitol, and start the Games though not before Peeta publicly reveals that he loves Katniss. The Games progress and following a trick by Katniss, both she and Peeta survive. The trick of Katniss provokes her forced involvement in the next Hunger Games in the second book and a rebellion across the districts in the third.

I read all three books in one week and I was thankfully that they were quick reads. They are very action packed and if you don't pick at them too much, I'm sure they would be OK or at least the first one would be. I found them full of plot holes. The concept in the first book was interesting as even though it is an old idea, the notion of using teens instead of adults is new. However I cared little for any of the characters (including Katniss and Peeta) nor were they unlikeable enough to interest me (the closest I came to liking anyone was the unlikeable alcoholic, Haymitch), and I couldn't stop myself from asking why certain devices were used and being unable to get past not being able understand little things like how they were filming the Hunger Games. The second and third book are much less interesting, especially if you aren't a massive fan of any of the characters, and the writing quality (which isn't great in the first book) gets worse especially as Katniss swings her affection from Gale to Peeta and back again (I may not like any of them but I think for most of the books she seems to picking the wrong one, and when she eventually wakes up to who the better boy is it is pretty much an epilogue in the third book and then it is only after his brain has been turned to mush and rebuilt). Putting my youth leader hat on, I'd add that these books are bleak in the extreme and at time insanely violent. I would say that they are definitely not for anyone under 12 or 13 (the age at which I read Tomorrow When The War Began which is leans in that direction- though it isn't as bleak or as violent) and even then only for more mature kids of that age as the theme will be too startling for younger or more immature readers. On the plus side, it is better than Twilight. Katniss is a considerable better hero for young girls than Twilight's Bella Swan . Katniss is confident, strong and has a sacrificial love for her family as opposed to Bella's constant victimhood. Both of the significant love interests are better than Edward Cullen as neither openly lusts after Katniss, neither ignores her nor goes out of his way to hurt her, both respect her, and both understand that she is not fully prepared for a relationship with either of them until the end of the trilogy. There are many things wrong with these books but their view of human relationships (especially in a Twilight universe) amongst the principle characters isn't one of them, and even though I didn't love the books, I'm going to watch the films.

Anyhow that me done of the worthwhile-ness of being aware of teen pop culture. I'm off to cleanse my brain from all the teen fiction with the combo of the rest of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely, Jeffrey Eugenides's The Marriage Plot and Terry Pratchett's Snuff.

How it ended....finishing the Novel Challenge

As I sit here wearing a t-shirt depicting the cover of a book I quite like (The Great Gatsby) and watching a mediocre film adaptation of one of my favourite books (the 2008 version of Evelyn Waugh's Bridehead Revisited- despite the presence of Matthew Goode and Ben Whishaw who are two of the best young actors in Britain, it isn't great- that said if you haven't read the book, you must do so), I'm reminded that I haven't let any loyal readers I might have know how the MS Novel Challenge ended up for me. In the end I read 19 books (I didn't finish The Tennant of Wildfell Hall but I'm still working on that) which would have totalled up to at least 10000 pages (probably significantly more) and, including one late direct donation a friend is making, I raised $350!

So much thanks to all who donated and read along with massive journey of books!

This means that whilst the blog will occasionally roam into the land of books (I think I'll be posting something tomorrow that is mildly about books in fact) , that they will no longer be the focus. If you don't want the book blogging to end I recommend the blog of someone I know who is attempting to read through all the "greatest" books ever written- http://rainymondaymorning.wordpress.com/ - currently she is reading A. S. Byatt's Possession. If you just want some book porn and think that my cover pictures did not suffice, check out the tumblr profile- http://libraryporn.tumblr.com/

So to end my Novel Challenge blog I will remind you again to read Marieke Hardy's You'll be Sorry When I'm Dead and, of course, everything ever written by Jonathan Franzen.

Just to end with a photo of some of the shelves of my bookshelf- some people have phobias of this bookshelf falling on them, which thankfully is yet to happen

Week 16 Book 2- The "old" maid wins out

So from a confronting portrait of Australian suburbia to some Austen action with Persuasion.

Anne Elliot is 27 and is unlikely to ever make a good match. When she was 21 and supposedly much more beautiful, she had been engaged to a naval officer, Captain Wentworth, and, despite of her overwhelming love for him, she had been persuaded to break the engagement because he was deemed not worthy of her hand. Now she lives with her (also unmarried) 29 year old sister and her father in a house that they can no longer afford and which in any case is entailed to a cousin as the three Elliot children who survived to adulthood were all female. Forced to lease the house a naval officer and her wife (who turns out to be Captian Wentworth's sister), the family relocates to Bath though Anne first goes to visit her youngest sister, her husband and her brother-in-law's extended family. The society of Henrietta and Louisa Musgrove (the younger sisters of Anne's brother-in-law, Charles) attracts visits from Captain Wentworth- returned to England and looking for a wife, any wife as long as it isn't Anne whom he is still yet to forgive for breaking their engagement. Anne living for the time with Musgroves and Captain Wentworth visiting them begins to often bring them into contact with each other, and Anne starts to wonder at her lingering feelings for the captain. Tragedy strikes Louisa Musgrove just shortly before Anne moves to her new home in Bath and as Anne leaves she is faced with the possibility that following the tragedy, Captain Wentworth may propose to Louisa. In Bath, she finds her sister and father trying to lean on wealthier relatives in order to appear better off, she reacquaints herself with an old school friend who has fallen on bad times, and she gets to know her cousin who seems to be pursuing her but who she suspects has dubious motives. Then Captain Wentworth arrives in town and......


A while ago, a friend of mine who is more than mildly Austen obsessed suggested that people get together and watch an Austen miniseries one afternoon. Going through her massive collection, we picked an adaptation of Persuasion and I mentioned (possibly ill-advisedly) that I had not read the book. She was shocked as have been others of my acquaintance (including my mother who counts it as her favourite Austen novel). I have always liked Austen but it was just unfortunate for Persuasion that there wasn't a Hollywood version of or a TV adaptation starring Colin Firth whilst I was in year 9 or 10- this was when I first read Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility and Emma (in that order). Also counting against it was that the next Austen I read was Northanger Abbey which I studied for year 11 and did not enjoy at all. After that I was worried about her remaining two complete novels- a worry that was borne out for Mansfield Park which I started and could not finish a few years ago- so just kept rereading the first three I'd read (I think the count on P&P would be well over 10 times (no that isn't sad!), S&S and Emma both over 5). I feel I owe someone an apology for waiting so long as Persuasion is definitely better than S&S and Emma, and is just about equal to P&P (I'd have to reread to confirm). Firstly move aside Elizabeth Bennett and Marion Dashwood, I have a new favourite Austen heroine. I just loved Anne Elliot as she was so self reliant and so sensible (in the modern not the early 19th century sense of the word). She was just brilliant. Also I can now appreciate more the comment the friend mentioned earlier made on my facebook status a few years ago when, on my 27th birthday, I stated that I was now as old as Charlotte Lucas and would need to find myself a Mr Collins, and she replied that I was also as old as Anne Elliot and should not give up hope of getting a Captain Wentworth. And talking of him, he can't knock my favourite Austen man off his spot (Mr Knightley if you're asking and no I'm not sure why) but he comes close and I may prefer him to Darcy. Ultimately the thing I loved most about this book was how cutting the satire was. Austen was definitely on her game with this one and it may just be the most successfully satirical of her novels. I actually found it the funniest of her novels- not to dismiss P&P which is quite funny in parts. Finally I just love that (being an Austen novel, I'm sure I'm not giving anything away) the "old" maid gets the man she wants and not another Mr Collins. I remember being mildly horrified (though only 15 at the time) when I first read the conversation between Elizabeth and Lady Catherine in P&P when she says that it is unfair for her younger sisters not to be out just because she and Jane did not marry early. I felt like screaming "EARLY seriously! You are 20 and your sister is 22. There ain't nothing late about that!" and Charlotte Lucas's speeches about how she would marry Mr Collins because she wasn't going to get another offer are just heart breaking. I know that was the reality of the early 19th century and that not being married by age 20 or 21 was mildly horrifying to them but it is just so nice for Austen to acknowledge that they could be an exception to the rule (not that Anne, who is 28 at the end of the book, is old by modern standards).

The cover of the version I read

Just 'cause Rupert Penry-Jones is kinda pretty, I haven't seen this version though. I must borrow it from someone.

Next I promise some Anne Bronte which will also be the end of my months of reading....

Week 16 Book 1- Suburbia, kids and controversy

Well once again my friends of the blog world, I lied to you. This week I told you I would be reading Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and I have been. Then again as you can see from the title of this post one out of three don't work-it has kids (well a kid) and controversy but you can hardly describe the moors as suburbia. That's right I've made another diversion from my course. A few weeks ago I ordered a second hand copy of Christos Tsiolkas's The Slap following the debut of the television adaptation- if I'm watching a TV adaptation of a novel, I like to have read the novel or be reading the novel as it goes on. I thought that it would likely not arrive until after October but it arrived on Wednesday and despite being a bit busy I finished it this morning.

For those not in Australia or just oblivious the online debate that is raging amongst ABC viewers about the series, some plot summary action- though for those watching the miniseries be warned there may be minor unavoidable plot spoilage. Greek Australian Hector and his Indian-Anglo Australian wife, Aisha, have a barbeque for their friends and family. At the barbeque, Hector's cousin, Harry, slaps Hugo, the spoilt misbehaving three year child of Aisha's friend, Rosie, and her alcoholic husband, Gary. The child is slapped hard across the face but immediately prior to the slap Hugo was throwing a fit after being dismissed in backyard cricket game, swinging a bat at Harry's eight year old, Rocco, and kicking Harry in the shins. The slap and resultant legal action then resonate through the novel as each chapter follows the later events in the life of someone who was present at the barbeque starting with the events at the barbeque as focused on Hector, then moving to Aisha's unmarried Jewish friend Anouk who wants to be a novelist but currently works for a TV soap and is shagging the show's star, to Harry the self made man, to Connie the 17 year old assistant at Aisha's vet clinic who has been flirting with Hector, to Rosie the hippy mother who dotes on her son and ignores her husband's obvious alcoholism, to Hector's father Manolis who is grappling with getting older, to Aisha who is dealing with the effect of the slap on her marriage and the possibility of divorce, and finally to Connie's best friend and the son of a nurse at Aisha's vet clinic, 17 year old Richie, who is coming to terms with his homosexuality.

The initial suggestion of the title and then the event of the slap is sure to be off putting to some and the mass debate that went on via facebook and twitter after the first episode of the miniseries was none too surprising. Physical discipline of children is a controversial topic especially when the person dishing out the discipline isn't the parent. It is not just an issue of how to discipline but also if you discipline your kids at all. Tsiolkas's intent in writing the novel was to cause this kind of discussion and he succeeds. I personally am going to try to not weigh into the debate too heavily just to preface what I'm going to say by stating that I may not be a parent but were I one I would advocate the parental discipline though likely not of the physical variety. I found The Slap appropriately confronting in parts. I didn't care for Tsiokas's over use of the 'c' word as it is a word I find a bit too guttural for regular use and though it can be employed well if only used briefly for effect (in Ian McEwan's Atonement for example) but it just went a bit over board for me as the characters are middle class suburban adults and only Harry struck me as the kind of individual who would use it that often. I did applaud the point where Aisha recoiled at her husband's use of it. This complaint aside it is a brilliant novel. Sure the characters are largely unlikeable- in particular though at the epicentre for the slap, Harry, Gary, Rosie, and Hugo- but I find unlikeable characters interesting and the characterisation of Anouk, Aisha and Richie (the characters I most liked) I found quite sympathetic in their sections. I think I reacted most strongly against the character of Rosie as the novel's other contenders for least likable were Harry and Gary who I expected to dislike and Hugo who is just a child. For me, the presentation of Rosie wasn't overtly harsh (nor was that of any of the other characters), it was just overtly truthful and I found her extreme earth mother with no discipline lifestyle, her wilful ignorance of her husband's alcoholism and the growing development of a borderline Oedipal relationship with Hugo unbearable. It has been said a lot but I agree that this novel may be one of the most important Australian novels of recent times, if not ever. It perfectly envisions middle class insecurity on many issues and its dealings with the issues of race, wealth, marriage and family are largely spot on. Tsiolkas's prose is almost sublimely honest (except for the previously mentioned complaint). It will definitely be too confronting for many but if you can stomach confrontation and are watching the miniseries I strongly recommend reading the book. If you like complex middle class stories of unlikeable people, then like me you will probably find it very un-putdown-able and I'll stop now before I accidentally give any more miniseries spoilers.

A few words on the miniseries thus far (well not this week's version of the Connie chapter as I was at work late on Thursday and am yet to catch up on iView), all in all it is a good interpretation of the text (Melissa George as Rosie, in particular, is beyond perfect casting) but has made some weird changes to the book. I'm still yet to figure out why they made the barbeque Hector's 40th as it is just a barbeque and he is 43 in the novel; why they made Rocco 11 or 12 instead of 8; why Anouk's novel is about her, Aisha and Rosie when the plot isn't mentioned in the book; why Aisha isn't Indian. On more significant plot points why they made Connie hate Hector at the end of the first episode (she doesn't in the book, she just gets angry at being dismissed) and why they made Hugo behave so badly at the barbeque that he appeared to be a bit educational disabled (he is "normal" three year old in the book and he doesn't pull up flowers or destroy CDs at the party). I can understand why they might have needed to make Anouk's mother alive (she has already passed away following a battle with breast cancer before the action of the book) and why Rocco ran away (he didn't in the book) as episode padding. My one worry is that when I see the last episode that may have pushed the Connie and Hector thing a bit far- she doesn't see him in the book after the action of the barbeque. Still holding out hopes that it will largely be a good adaptation.

Next up still not The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as not only did I finish The Slap today, I also read Jane Austen's Persuasion in one sitting.

Week 15- Slowly walking through the caste system

After the big ethical challenges of last week's book, I moved onto something I often try to avoid...the Man Booker Prize winner. I've read more than a few Booker Prize winning and shortlisted books (my erstwhile book club went through a period where we seemed to read one after another for what felt like an age). Don't get me wrong, the Booker is worthy prize that recognises worthy literature but often times the "worthy" books shortlisted for the Booker are depression inducing in the extreme (e.g. Schlinder's Ark won the Booker, as did The Inheritance of Loss, Disgrace and Amsterdam). That said I can't write them off completely as they also let Possession, Vernon God Little, The Life of Pi and The English Patient win, and though not completely cheery these have a mildly more cheerful lease on life than some of the others. My Booker Prize resistance is probably one of the reasons The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy has sat unread on my bookshelf for many a year but no longer....

The God of Small Things is set across two time periods. Firstly the late 1980s, when Rahel returns home from the States to India in order to reunite with Estha her twin brother whom she hasn't seen for 23 years after they were separated following a tragic family event- the aftermath of the event and their separation has resulted in the adult Estha not speaking for many years and the adult Rahel being unable to relate well to others resulting in her divorce. The other time period is the 1960s and the story of the events that ended with the separation of Rahel and Estha. The 1960s time period is told out of order so from early on it is revealed that the twins' English cousin, Sophie, died somewhat suspiciously when she was visiting them (Sophie was 11 and the twins were 8) and that the twins' mother felt guilty for this because of a controversial love affair she was having. How the child died, who was involved and who the twins' mother was sleeping with are gradually revealed as the novel plays out, as are the histories of the twins' grandmother, their uncle, their mother and their great aunt, and the politics of communism and caste in that region of India. The focus of the novel ultimately is the idea of love- the twins' fear that their family will love their white cousin more than them, their fear that their mother will stop loving them, their great aunt enduring unfulfilled love for a Catholic priest, the fact that both their mother and uncle married outsiders and ended up divorced, the rules of who can be loved and how, and the injustice that these rules can at times.

Like many "worthy" novels and, in my experience, many Indian novels, The God of Small Things moves very slowly and is often more description than narrative. Thankfully  unlike the similarly slow and similarly Booker winning Indian novel, The Inheritance of Loss, I did not find the slowness quite as painful....in fact I didn't find it painful at all. I was also delighted that this novel was not as depressing as the Booker Prize winning label might make it appear. It is more of mood piece and less of a sequence of increasingly suicide inducing plot points. The slowness of events is compensated by the mild feeling of suspense about the events of the 1960s which is upheld for much of the novel- I guessed who the mother was sleeping with about halfway through and guessed some of the other events that would unfold but was still in two minds about the means of Sophie's death until it was actually revealed. The novel initially starts by alternating chapters between the 1980s with flashbacks and the 1960s without but then gradually is swamped by the events of the 1960s and the 1980s fades into the background. The twins as children (ultimately the side of the twins you see decidedly more of) are delightfully insecure characters and their family is wonderfully colourful even if some members of it are largely unlikable. The idea of caste and the separation of this family as Syrian Christian is fascinating to me as someone who hasn't read much that focused on these ideas in the past. The description that helps cause the slowness is quite vivid and you almost feel as if you are walking the streets and experiencing the events of the twins and their family. All in all a powerful novel but the pace might be a stumbling block for some.

From one woman author to another....possibly to finish off the Novel Challenge, I'm now reading Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall- back to my comfort zone of 19th century female authors. If I do finish it with time to spare, I'll be reading Persuasion to finish.

Week 14- Ethics and Meat

A few posts ago I mentioned that I was heading to the Festival of Dangerous Ideas at the Opera House. The more info on that is that it was to Jonathan Safran Foer discussing the ethics of eating meat taking off from his book of a few years ago Eating Animals. Whilst there I picked up a copy of the book and it is this week's book for my novel challenge (not that it is a novel).


Eating Animals is a examination of the factory farming industry in the States and the effect on personal eating habits that knowledge of the practices of this industry might have on an individual. Foer began research into the meat industry following the birth of his son as he struggled to determine what the most ethical food choice would be for his family. He clearly read at length on the issue, interviewed factory farm workers, activists and family farmers, and visited farms and slaughter houses. He explores all the possible concerns with the industry (animal welfare, environmental, health, etc.) and also presents the process of meat production at some times graphic lengths. Foer reveals in the opening chapters of the book that he is a vegetarian so you can guess where he is going.

So off the bat some disclosure for any who don't know me in reality. Much like I don't recall a time before I wanted to spend time in London, I can't recall a time when I wasn't passionate about the environment- it was definitely prior to high school but I'm not sure how much earlier- nor can I recall what sparked the passion. I do remember when I got into animal welfare issues, I was in year 7 and I read about the animal testing methods being used by companies such as Procter and Gamble (to this day I do not buy their products knowingly- there are so many brands under the umbrella that they can be hard to avoid but I avoid the ones I know- so much so that the smell of Pringles, which I've never eaten, makes me a bit sick). When I was 15, I decided to bite the bullet and declared to my parents that I was embracing vegetarianism- ultimately my mother and I compromised and I just give up red meat. In the last 13 years I have only eaten red meat on four occasions- two by accident, once for a week whilst away with friends three years ago, and once at last New Year's- the latter two to make it easier for people and in all cases I've felt quite sick after the red meat eating. My distance from red meat is so complete that the smell of a butcher shop makes me feel mildly nauseated and has done for about 10 years. I gave up farm salmon 6 years ago, non-free range poultry 4 years ago, and nowadays I usually only eat white meat once a month, if that. I try not to buy leather products, buy soup with animal based stocks in it, cheese with animal based rennet, etc, etc. On the opposite end of the spectrum I also come from a long line of farmers on my father's side of the family.

Disclosure over. This book could be one of the most important and accessible works published on the issue of factory farming. The prose is easy to read, the language isn't over intellectual and the tone, unlike many books and articles on this issue, is not at all forciful or judgemental. Foer concludes that vegetarianism is the most logical response to the horror of factory farming but he does not judge the meat eater or order people to change their food choice. Foer advocates wise, ethical and informed food choice but does not force anyone- his tone when speaking of PETA and other organisations' extreme forcefulness on the matter of veganism shows that he does not agree with that kind of forced conversion at all. He speaks with admiration of several of the family farmers he meets and does not judge them- in fact he applauds them (especially one turkey farmer) for their attempts to ethically keep their animals. The stories of slaughter and animal welfare in the factory farms are sickening at points but neccessarily so. These sections of the book made me profoundly angry, profoundly sad and profoundly ill. The descriptions of an aged cow from a petting zoo licking the face of a slaughter house owner before death and the treatment of pregnant pigs in factory farms both nearly brought me to tears- on both occasions on public transport. Factory farming has to be one of the largest autrocities that the civilised world not just allows but then turns its back on and pretends isn't happening. After one particularly horrible section I rang my father to confirm that I was correct in my belief that our family had never been involved in factory farming and the tone of his voice when he replied showed the similar attitude of disgust to that expressed by the family farmers that Foer interviews in the book when talking about factory farming (our family has farmed wheat, cattle and sheep, and has never (to my father's knowledge) been involved in factory farming). This book is telling the story of factory farming in the States and there are few (if any) countries in the world have a larger market share of meat that comes from factory farms. In Australia the percentage of meat from factory farms is much smaller and the poultry industry is better regulated (as far as I know). That said poultry and pork in Australia is still predominately from factory farms and any Australian salmon sold in supermarkets is. After reading this book I'm giving up poultry and seafood becoming a proper vegetarian- not becoming a vegan as soya/rice based milk tend to make me sick but will be continuing to buy organic vegetarian cheese, organic milk and free range RSPCA endorsed eggs (Foer states in the book that organic and free range are both uncertain terms and this is true but the dairy industry is Australia is much less factory based than in the States, organic does normally mean better treatment for cattle (Foer acknowledges this) and the RSPCA is normally pretty strict on their welfare standard so I trust their recommendation on eggs).

Foer talks at length about the effects of food and food culture on social structure, social decisions and social stories. As Foer correctly states food choices do easily influence others (e.g. my ceasing to red meat food did cut the number of meals involving it for not just me but my whole immediate family when I lived at home; my changing to free range poultry only meant the family switched to free range, organic turkey for Christmas; and often at social events where food is shared my being a "vegetarian" (in loose sense of the word) has meant that one or more vegetarian dishes are ordered in place of meat ones), food is at the centre of community life. Unlike many other issues it is almost true that one person's choice can start to change the choices of many as Foer puts it "We eat as sons and daughters, as families, as communities, as generations, as nations, and increasingly as a globe. We can't stop eating from radiating influence even if we want to". Like Foer I wouldn't want to force anyone to embrace vegetarianism but I do think that this book is a must read and I will likely be forcing people to read it in the near future.

 If you want to hear the talk Foer gave at the Opera House, video of it is available online at http://play.sydneyoperahouse.com/index.php/media/1486-jonathan-safran-foer-fodi-2011.html?catid=&field_name= - I recommend you check it out.

On to my next book, God of Small Things.....

Week 13- Your pocket guide to stalking

Leaving my recent obsession with the novels of Jonathan Franzen behind us, let us all breathe in the air of stalking "fun" that is Ian McEwan's Enduring Love.

On the way back to their London flat from Heathrow, Joe Rose (a science journalist in the mould of a much milder version of Richard Dawkins) and his partner Clarissa (an English academic who works on Keats) stop for a picnic in a field. No sooner do they open their wine and they hear screaming. A hot air balloon has broken its anchor rope leaving a 10 year old alone in the basket in high winds. Joe and several other bystanders run to the boy's aid and attempt to pull on the rope and bring the balloon down. In the attempt one man dies as the balloon lifts in the high wind and the other men let go leaving him to fall to his death. One of the other men who was attempting to help retrieve the balloon, Jed Parry, perceives that Joe is giving him some kind of sign and commits his undying love to Joe. Parry believe that Joe is drawing him in and reciprocating the love he feels. Parry is also a devote believer of his own twisted version of Christianity and he commits to making Joe believe as he does. Parry follows Joe wherever he goes and starts leaving insane numbers of messages on his phone and writing him deranged letters. Joe instantly believes that Parry is highly dangerous but Clarissa and the police won't believe him so the stalking continues and Joe's other relationships start to crack under the pressure of his attempt to prove Parry is a threat.


Awww Ian McEwan... always one for darkness. McEwan's amazingly beautiful Atonement is one of my favourite novels even for its sadness and the only other work of his that I have read is the heartless, depressing but also brilliant Amsterdam. McEwan readers I know are of two camps- the fans who love his work even with its inherent darkness and the admirers who read his work despite the fact that they find it depressing. I think I edge towards the fan side though both Amsterdam and Enduring Love made me none too happy and Atonement makes me cry. Like the other McEwan I have read, I found Enduring Love beautifully written and masterfully crafted. Unlike the others it also had this rapidness to it which was driven by the compelling creepiness of the story. The story of the balloon accident is described vividly that seems like it will be highly significant to the novel and to have it merely act as the catalyst for the later events just shows McEwan's talent. Like many of the books I've read of late I found the main character not the most likeable of people- Joe's treatment of Clarissa grated and he was more than a tad pompous. I did like the character of Clarissa though as she seemed the most rational person in the book- also I've got to support people who work on the Romantics, they're my people. Parry is one of the best and creepiest pictures of a stalker I've seen in fiction and he seriously wigged me out- his overt religiosity will jar with some readers of faith and it did rattle me a bit until I remember that the version of creepy religious fervour displayed by Parry is a common symptom of psychotic conditions and that wasn't McEwan putting all people of faith in the bin of raving loon-doom (or maybe he was but I choose to believe he wasn't). Definitely worth the read and it is a fast read but be prepared for the creep factor.

Also just discovered (or re-discovered as I'm sure I saw reviews for it when it was at the cinema) that there is a movie of Enduring Love which stars Daniel Craig as Joe, Samantha Morton as Claire (not sure why but they renamed Clarissa) and Rhys Ifans as Parry. Can I say (not having seen it) that it looks DREADFUL! Every character is miscast in particular Daniel Craig, usually always a welcome addition to any film, as Joe is supposed to be mid-to-late forties and balding. Reading the user review that comes up first on IMDB makes it sound even worse as whoever wrote this review repeatedly says Parry is gay which is not stated in any way in the book- he is obsessed and in love but he is also insane and the form of his obsession whilst seemingly homosexual is never spoken of in sexual terms in the book. Best avoided like the plague I think.

Done with stalking and with fiction for the moment, next post will possible involve my proselytising about the brilliance of vegetarianism after I finish Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals.